They can blink, moan, speak, and they can even cough.  What is that, you ask? The computer operated simulators in the new virtual learning center.

Celebrating 60 years of teaching, N.C. A&T’s School of Nursing opened a new simulation center in Hines Hall on Oct. 1 to help advance the skills of nursing students in a safe environment.

Funded mostly by Title III, or federal grants, the simulation center is where nursing students will go for hands-on clinical learning experiences.

After two years of planning and building, Inez Tuck, Dean of the School of Nursing, was able to give her students a modern laboratory to help them confidently enter into their profession.

“The lab experience that I had as a student here was very low tech,” Tuck said. “Practicing these skills and even making mistakes in clinical judgment under the guidance of a faculty member, cause no harm and have no long term consequences.” The new center allows students to practice and learn in a low-risk environment.

An area where real situations are created in a controlled environment, Catherine Sykes, director of simulation and virtual learning for A&T’s School of Nursing, played a big role with establishing the lab. Sykes stated this center gives students a chance to not only practice clinical skills, but to apply their critical reasoning skills in order to be safe nurses.

 “They [simulators] can talk back so they [students] get that immediate feedback from the patients based on what they say or what they do,” Sykes said. “It is really a wonderful tool, not just to work on their critical reasoning, but for team work and communication, for practicing the organizational skills that they need.”

According to Sykes, schools have transitioned into using more simulators that are computer operated within the last 15 years. With an estimate of over $170,000 in equipment, new and old, the mannequin simulators have human like characteristics such as heartbeats, lung sounds, and bodily fluids.

Equipped with simulated mannequins and virtual learning aids, Sykes says the center provides a more realistic environment to practice in and gives clinical groups the opportunity to do pre or post-conferences that are associated with their clinical.

“I think it is a great resource,” said Dreama Davis, a senior nursing student. “It helps bridge the gap between clinical and theory by increasing confidence in your practice and strengthening the material taught in class.”

The school of nursing is up for reaccreditation in February 2014. Sykes believes that this center will help them pass reaccreditation since the trend in nursing is increasing the opportunities for simulated clinical experiences. Another advantage students will have with the center is a debriefing room that will allow students to observe others with simulators.

 “Simulation is really a must have for our students, and that was one of the things that they [the accreditation committee] have commented on in the past. They liked that we were using simulation and they just encouraged us to do more of it,” said Sykes.

 Dean Inez Tuck notes that there is no correlation between the center and reaccreditation.

“Resources are part of every accreditation process and this simulation lab will enhance the resources for the School of Nursing,” she said. “Our students will benefit from experiences that increase their critical thinking skills.”

Not just a benefit to the school of nursing, Sykes believes that it will also benefit A&T. She said that it is a good marketing asset for the university and would attract students.

Chancellor Harold Martin agrees.

“The simulation center will provide an excellent educational facility that represents a significant investment by the university in our nursing program and our students,” he said. “This new facility positions our nursing program to compete more successfully with other nursing programs throughout the state and the nation.”

Sykes expects the center to assist students, not just with their clinical performance, but also with their understanding of the path of physiology of what is going on with the patient. She believes it will improve student-learning outcomes, by being able to put everything they have learned in the classroom together with the simulation.

The center is also expected to make sure students are successful when taking their licensure exam and becoming nurses.

“Simulation is not for education,” she said. “Simulation is where we learn to hone our practice skills.”

• Kimberly Fields, Register Reporter