Purdue University Northwest’s College of Nursing receives donation for newborn simulation equipment
The specialized training equipment will give nursing students the ability to practice their skills on newborn manikins to prepare them for their careers.
Beginning in the Fall 2025 semester, students within Purdue University Northwest’s College of Nursing will be able to practice their skills and receive specialized training on new simulation equipment that will ensure their nursing capabilities. Thanks to a donation received by the College of Nursing, it has purchased new simulation equipment that focuses on the care of newborns, pregnancy care, and childbirth.
According to an article on Purdue University Northwest’s website, Jamie Kozel, who is the Simulation Lab Coordinator and a clinical assistant professor of Nursing, was quoted as saying of the new equipment and the benefit it will provide nursing students, “We are always looking for ways to improve and increase the realism for practice in our nursing program. The new equipment will allow our students to practice and experience birth-related and pediatric care in a very realistic setting. Simulation is an indispensable part of undergraduate nursing education. It provides a safe environment where students can practice, make mistakes, analyze their errors and improve their skills without the fear of causing harm to actual patients.”
The new equipment includes a pediatric hospital crib, a wearable c-section abdomen, and two silicone infants, one of which simulates a full-term baby and one which simulates a premature baby. These new additions to the College of Nursing’s suite of simulation equipment will give students the ability to gain an in-depth understanding of c-section births and handling the needs of newborn patients.
Throughout students’ time at the College of Nursing, they will have numerous opportunities for hands-on learning and simulation experiences on a variety of equipment and machines. Before students are put in simulation scenarios, the scenarios are reviewed by clinical experts to match the skills being learned to real-life skills that area hospitals need their healthcare providers to be adept in.
Students begin their simulation experiences with task trainers, or models of body parts, that give students the opportunity to practice individual skills like catheter insertion or wound dressing, and then they gradually move on to more involved simulation equipment like low-fidelity manikins and high-fidelity manikins.
Kozel said, “Our goal is to create a workforce of competent, confident nurses who are prepared to handle the complexities of patient care in the real world.”
For more information about Purdue University Northwest, visit the school’s website.