“You need perseverance and partners for dreams to become reality,” said Dr. Sharon I. Decker, RN, Ph.D., ACNS-BS, ANEF, Professor and Director of The F. Marie Hall SimLife Center at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) in Lubbock. Decker, who has contributed to several publications, research studies and curricula development projects, including the NLN Simulation in Healthcare study and publication, and the Laerdal Harvey® Nursing Curriculum, said, “Our new facility houses cutting-edge healthcare environments, including an operating suite, birthing center, hospital patient rooms and clinical examination rooms. It also integrates high-technology advances such as virtual reality and 3-D visualization to support learning and competency evaluations. A sophisticated digital audio-visual system is integrated throughout the center to record simulated learning, assessment and debriefing sessions.”

Improved student learning elevate quality patient care and service

With the September 2010 grand opening of The SimLife Center, TTUHSC completed their vision of creating an interprofessional, multimodality, regional simulation center. It is equipped with everything from Resusci Anne® to SimMan® 3G advanced simulator models, as well as partial trainers, VitalSim, computerized MicroSim, SimNewB™, SimMan® and Harvey, The Cardiopulmonary Patient Simulator. “Harvey is integrated into all programs – undergraduates, advanced nurse practitioners, residents, medical students, physical therapists – and used for basic to advanced physical assessments,” said Decker. “Harvey is also utilized for yearly competency testing by acute care agencies and our other partners.”

Multiple task trainers, advanced patient simulators, haptic devices and standardized patients are available as tools to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Future healthcare providers develop communication skills via valuable hands-on work with manikins, task trainers, simulators and actors and learn to react to authentic high-stress scenarios.

The TTUHSC Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), a requirement of accreditation with the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, is “interprofessional teamwork”. TTUHSC believes knowing about teamwork does not guarantee an individual is able to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of an interprofessional team member. Experiential learning opportunities with guided practice are necessary. Therefore, simulation is used at TTUHSC as a tool to help individuals develop the competencies required to be a member of an interprofessional team.

Improving patient safety with research and training conferences

The TTUHSC faculty members are engaged in multiple research endeavors related to the pedagogy of simulation. Past research has focused on the integration of guided refl ection and the use of simulation to promote critical thinking. Nursing faculty are participating in multi-site studies investigating the use of the advanced cardiopulmonary simulator, Harvey, for teaching cardiovascular assessment. Interprofessional faculty teams are currently researching the use of simulation as a tool to promote interprofessional teamwork. Researchers are specifi cally analyzing the use of simulation to promote patient safety by recognizing situations at risk for medication errors and improving interprofessional communication.

Decker is excited about the enhanced level of resource sharing now possible at The SimLife Center and will host conferences and regional trainings. This new paradigm furthers Texas Tech’s institutional goal of becoming a nationally recognized Health Sciences Center while promoting safe, quality patient care. “We’re striving to improve patient safety,” said Decker. Texas Tech hosted its fi rst regional Simulation User Network (SUN) conference in fall 2010.