Ohio University Southern nursing school gets pediatric simulator

The Center for Nursing Education at Ohio University Southern in Ironton, Ohio received a Laerdal pediatric simulator that will help the school train nurses in more simulated scenarios of sick children who need emergent care – such as this one: a child, showing symptoms of illness, lies on a hospital bed while waiting for medical treatment. The simulated patient has a monitor that displays vital information to understanding the child's treatment.

The child is designed to emphasize skill and scenario-based training on care and management of pediatric patients. Essentially, the child will train nurses for common and uncommon in-hospital scenarios including wound assessment and care, first aid, and child-abuse care training.

"(Using) the simulator allows students to practice and learn in safe situations. This means that if they do make a mistake, no harm will come to the patient," said Michelle Theiss, a nursing lecturer and one of the school’s faculty who learned how to use the pediatric simulator from a Laerdal Medical instructor who visited the. "But the student learns from that mistake and is less likely to make the same mistake with an actual patient," she continued.