Hanover reaches out to provide healthcare training
Hanover College along with Ivy Tech Community College-Madison and Kings Daughters' Hospital and Health Services, joined together in an effort that will allow students and healthcare professionals in southeastern Indiana the opportunity to upgrade their professional skills, reduce medical errors and increase patient safety.
The College has received a grant from Economic Opportunities through Education by 2015 (EcO15) to purchase a Human Patient Simulator (HPS), at a cost of around $65 thousand.
Associate Professor of Exercise Science Mike Worrell, who teaches anatomy, plans to use it in the classroom. He wants to use the HPS to develop a course in physiological pathology. "It'll form the foundation for our program in exercise science," he said.
Since Hanover's new HPS will be wireless, Worrell will to take it to area high schools to further Hanover's goals for community outreach. "We want to go out and demonstrate what this thing can do." The mannequin has the ability to simulate such physiological characteristics as sweating or pupil dilation, among others.
One of the benefits of the HPS as a teaching tool is that students can test their hypotheses. Worrell added, "Ideally, we'd like the students decide, 'what do we want to know?'" He gave the example of taking a healthy human being and asking the students to predict what physiological changes will occur if the person had smoked for 30 years.
"We'll program the simulation and compare what they predict with reality," he said.
Hanover also participated in a three-day healthcare simulation institute, sponsored by EcO15 and held on Ivy Tech's campus in neighboring Madison, Ind. Dr. Pam Jeffries, one of the nation's leading experts in these types of simulation, led the institute.
The goal was to improve participants' knowledge in simulation training and equipment and then to apply this knowledge to the current curriculum. Among the participants was Hanover's environmental health and safety officer/technical coordinator for sciences, Celeste Sutter, who called the institute a wonderful experience.
"Learning from (Jeffries) has opened the door for project-based learning not only for Hanover College students but (also) for King's Daughters' staff, Ivy Tech students, and local high school students as well," she said. "(High schools, post-secondary institutions) and the healthcare industry will be able to work together collaboratively to focus on pre-health careers and will have a huge impact on healthcare education for our community and the southeastern region of Indiana."
During the institute, the participants worked together to develop a library of simulations. It will be a significant contribution to healthcare education and the community, because the average simulation module takes around 40+ man-hours to create. It will also save thousands of hours for schools and hospitals.
Jim Battin, EcO15 healthcare coordinator, believes the benefits of using simulation in healthcare education are significant.
"Students and healthcare personnel have an opportunity to practice procedures and gain confidence before performing in a clinical setting," he said. "As a result, patient safety and care will be improved." Battin added the design possibilities are limitless.
