Nursing students turn to patient simulators for practice
By Jillian Chopin, News Writing Student
While most students at OCCC use pen and paper as their regular classroom tools, nursing students use life-like human patient simulators, said Sherri Givens, Human Patient Simulator coordinator.
Givens said students have to respond with their medical knowledge to scenarios ranging from tracking a patient’s pulse and breathing to a more difficult task, such as inserting and monitoring a chest tube.
These simulators are used during labs where instructors will set up a scenario, she said.
Givens said most of the simulators are operated with remote controls.
Depending upon whether the students are administering proper medical care, the instructor will either improve or worsen the condition of the “patient” until the students have brought the simulator to a satisfactory condition.
She said OCCC owns 17 simulators, the most state-of-the-art being “Dan the Man.”
Dan is OCCC’s most sought after simulator because he can perform many life-like simulations, Givens said.
Dan can perform many actions, such as breathe, talk, moan, groan and actually “die” if not treated with proper medical care, she said.
The college purchased Dan in 2004 for $180,000; however, Givens said, as simulators have become more desired by colleges nationwide, their value has increased.
A human patient simulator like Dan, who is manufactured by Meti, is now running at $225,000, she said.
With a price tag like this, much comes along with the simulator.
Dan can respond to medications, perform pupillary changes, and provide IV access through his right arm. He also weighs in at approximately 180 pounds — providing another human similarity.
Most of the other simulators weigh around 60 to 80 pounds, Givens said.
Dan also can change genders, and when this happens, students change the name from Dan to Danielle or Daniella, she said.
When instructors decide to change the gender, Givens said, they can switch the genitalia parts, and to complete the transformation they will dress the simulator in women’s clothing, and add a wig or hat as a finishing touch.
While some of the less advanced simulators are battery powered, Dan is hooked up to a computer system and runs off four different tanks including oxygen, nitrogen, compressed air and carbon dioxide.
If Dan is run for about eight hours, the two compressed air tanks will completely run out and have to be changed before he can be used again, Givens said.
In Oklahoma, the University of Oklahoma is the only other institution with a simulator comparable to Dan, she said.
OCCC is the only Emergency Medical Sciences program in the state with such a sophisticated and high tech simulator.
For more information, contact Givens at 405-682-1611, ext. 7395.
