Southeast Arkansas College demonstrated the abilities of its new Human Patient Simulator training models Sim Mom and Sim Baby with a simulated assisted delivery in the school’s Nursing and Allied Health Simulation Lab Wednesday morning.
Purchased with a $40,000 Carl D. Perkins grant, the mother and child mechanical models have been named Carla Perkins and Carl D. Perkins respectively.
“The reason we applied for the grant to purchase them is because it is so hard to find clinical opportunities for our male nursing students,” said Stephanie Guy, coordinator of the practical nursing program. “Our male students are at a disadvantage because they are often not allowed to participate in the birthing process due to client and family concerns. This purchase will allow our students to see the birth process. We can set up a wide range of emergency situations that may arise during a birth to allow our students to respond to situations that are usually only seen in real life.”
Nursing student Brent Eggburn, who assisted with the inaugural simulated birth, appreciates the learning opportunities that are now available to him as a man in the nursing program.
“Most hospitals don’t allow male nurses in for the delivery, so this is a big benefit for me,” Eggburn said.
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Level I nursing student Jennifer Watt was pleased to have the opportunity to train using the simulated mother and child.
“I believe it is an excellent opportunity for us to study the parent and child relationship with doctors,” Watt said.
Terry Clausen, SEARK simulation specialist, is excited to have the new equipment available for students.
“This is hands down one of the best training tools we have here,” Clausen said. “This will get our nursing students used to what we can see in the delivery room. It can be programmed to simulate breach births and a prolapsed cord as well as heart fetal tones.”
Diann Williams, vice president for assessment/nursing and allied health, said that the importance of the new teaching tool is its ability to put students in real world situations.
“This is important because we just made the childbirth experience realistic for our students,” Williams said. “This is really going to be special for our male students.”
SEARK President Steve Hilterbran said that the simulators are the next step in the college’s efforts to provide the best teaching tools to its students and instructors.
“We want to be on the cutting edge and provide our students with everything they need to have to be successful and meet all of their future challenges,” Hilterbran said.