A generous, anonymous gift to the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing contributed to the renovation of the Advanced Nursing Simulation and Clinical Learning Laboratory at Florida Atlantic University’s Davie campus. This innovative facility is training the next generation of nurses in South Florida, helping to address the nursing shortage in the state.
Walking into the simulation lab is like entering a working hospital floor or outpatient clinic. Exam rooms and beds line the perimeter with a central control desk. The lab has high fidelity mannequin simulators, which include an adult male, female, pediatric patient and mother. They can be programmed to replicate a range of human physiological conditions to monitor breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, disease, labor and delivery, and more.
“We can make the mannequins do everything but walk,” said Danielle Steele Mendez, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, instructor. “The lab provides a place to practice and gain confidence before an entry level nurse enters the workforce.”
Each simulation room is controlled by a computer that regulates and films the experience. Instructors view the students in the room as they respond to a situation and use the recording to debrief with the students after.
India Davis is in her second semester of the accelerated BSN program on the Davie campus. “We practice a lot of procedures,” India said. “We see things here reflected in the real world.”
She gained experience in handing out medications, starting an intravenous (IV) drip, making beds and preparing rooms for patients. Raised in Miami, she plans to stay in Florida after graduation and work in women’s health.
Judy Pierre enjoys the hands-on approach to care nursing offers. Raised in Broward County, she wants to be a pediatric oncology nurse and work at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood.
“The sim lab has definitely helped me develop a bedside manner and clinical approach to patients,” Judy said. “Each day that I enter the lab to learn, I build greater confidence, which I can effectively translate to real-world clinical settings.”
The college enrolls nearly 1,000 students in four nursing degree programs on its Boca Raton, Davie, and Harbor Branch campuses. It has more than 9,000 alumni, of which approximately 85% reside in Florida, providing vital health care services in the region.
To learn more about how Florida Atlantic is addressing the growing need to train more health care workers and improve health outcomes, as well as how Transcend Tomorrow: The Campaign for Florida Atlantic University is providing scholarships that propel student success, visit transcendtomorrow.fau.edu.
