Noelle is a constantly expecting mannequin who lives at the University of Virginia’s School of Nursing. She has a pulse rate and blood pressure, joint parts at the hip, eyes that open, knee and ankle, a uterus, a baby who has been delivered a lot of times and thanks to various laptop or software applications, she speaks. “My back is killing me. I’m so weak. Please, I need something for the pain! “ Noelle is one of seven high-tech mannequins at UVA. She costs $60,000. A male design, who sweats, has convulsions and is wi-fi, costs $90,000. But the lab’s associate director Linda Peffley-Firer says it’s a smart financial commitment.
“Yes – knowledge is expensive, but you know what? So are lives, so we train here.” And university student Leslie Murphy says practice is the key to competent care. “You do things over and over and over again and then it becomes more second nature, so that when we get into the hospital with actual sufferers, we do not have to think so much about, ‘Am I holding the needle right,’ or, ‘Is the blood pressure cuff the right size?’ Everything that you believed simple, like one-step procedure actually has 25 actions you did not observe them doing.”
Lab Manager Reba Moyer-Childress contributes that university students learn to work as a group, since many professionals may be engaged in looking after for sufferers. “How do we make sure that they are where we want them to be? How do we make sure that that mom who is in distress gets to the OR in a timely fashion? How will the anesthesiologist and the respiratory therapist respond? I mean Noelle has had sometimes 30 people with her in the OR, trying to help save her child and her life.”
“Please help me. One more push. One more push. Got a go. You are almost there. Shoulder area now. She is here. You have got a baby girl!” Each simulated medical scenario is noticed from a control room and documented. There’s a camera at each place, so learners can record themselves and go back and review it on their own and enhance their performance.” After each period, respiratory therapist learners sit with their teachers to discuss what went right, what went wrong and what could be done in a different way.