Even for trained healthcare providers, caring for a newborn can be difficult because of their size, delicacy, and unknown health conditions. That’s why Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital wanted a tool to help train a wide range of medical personnel in neonatal care.

The Customer

At Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospitals, compassionate expertise and state-of-the-art technology come together in the hands of their multidisciplinary team—so that each child gets the unique attention they need during such a delicate stage of life.

The Discovery

After using non-interactive manikins to train staff of neonatal emergencies, Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital decided they needed a new and innovative tool that would better prepare their staff for critical neonatal events.

The Solution

The discovery led the hospital to recognize what a valuable resource the SimNewB Neonatal Simulator could be to their staff. “SimNewB provides the hands on experience needed in a risk free manner that enhances their confidence and better prepares them for the real patient environment”, says Betty Minton, RNC. “It enhances the learners thinking about what their next steps need to be based on their individual assessments”.

The Implementation

Within the hospital, SimNewB is being used for multidisciplinary team training and the training of multiple response departments. Simulation sessions assist with communication between teams that respond to critical events.

In addition to using SimNewB within Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, she is also being used for training at their rural facility affiliations as well as the SPIRIT Medical Transport System. The rural facility affiliate hospitals use the newborn simulator to practice how to prepare the baby for transport to their tertiary hospital to increase survival chances. Once SimNewB is ready for transport, the medical transport team can take over the simulation. Both the Adult and Neonatal teams will use the simulator to become more proficient with neonatal care.

The Results

In addition to the mock code training and skills fairs, SimNewB is being utilized at the monthly NRP courses. Since word about SimNewB has spread to the surrounding communities, class sizes have continued to increase. The hands-on is invaluable and the learners really enjoy it. “They can completely be independent and assess just as they would on a real baby”, says Minton.

The staff is extremely excited about how SimNewB has been integrated into their program. Minton believes “simulation training is excellent for beginners up to experts. Veteran nurses can use simulation to refresh skills that are not frequently used and novice nurses can become more proficient with new procedures. The ultimate goal of utilizing SimNewB is to improve neonatal patient outcomes and the quality of care.”