MWSU brings learning to life with first health professions simulation
By Jazmine Knight
Students at Missouri Western will be taking learning to another level as the university holds its first ever inter-professional health professions simulation.
As Missouri Western turns Murphy Hall into Murphy General Hospital, students can choose to work on the med surg, emergency or ICU unit fulfilling roles of nurses, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, social workers or population health managers.
Alyson Hill, assistant nursing professor, says not only does this simulation allows students to practice in a realistic setting but it also allows them to make mistakes safely.
“If we make a mistake here, the mannequin doesn’t die because it was never alive. So they can make those mistakes, learn from them, and take that out into the clinical setting,” said Hill.
Through this simulation, students also focus on collaboration, professionalism, and communication just as they would in a real hospital.
As the official applied learning institution in Missouri, this simulation provides seven patients ranging in all different types of complexities and acuities.
“So in our emergency department, we’ve got a little baby. He’s six days old. He came in with some respiratory complaints,” Hill said. “But after assessing with the mom, the student actually find that mom had been kicked out of her apartment and needed social work resources.”
Students also saw patients who were decompensating in the ICU, patients that suffered heart attacks, substance abuse and more. They even got to run a code on a patient who came in presenting normally but had a pulmonary embolism.
According to Hill, oftentimes students get wrapped up in taking care of their patient. While important, the simulation also teaches them how to work with other departments to receive better outcomes for their patients and to get them the resources they need.
“Do they have transportation? Do they have a place to go? Do they have access to their medications? I, as the nurse, don’t think about those things and without my social worker, my patient might go without,” she said.
The simulation is also pretty similar to a real hospital. Equipped with a medication dispensing station, real health records and more, students learn how to read their patients’ charts, read orders and scan medications.
As previously reported, Missouri Western will also be implementing a new Nursing Scholars of Promise scholarship program in fall of 2025. Hill hopes that the new scholarship plus these simulations will attract even more nursing students to the university.
“The more nurses we can put in practice, then benefits Mosaic because they have more nurses at the bedside, which helps with that nursing shortage,” said Hill.
