Before working in hospitals, health centers, emergency services… nurses have spent 3 years (the graduates) and 4 years (the graduates) in Nursing schools. That is the place where we learn, we know many aspects of our profession and, above all, we train. A very important part of our training are the practices we carry out in Nursing schools.
In Spain, simulation is being incorporated into the educational landscape through simulation centers based on different models. These centers meet various requirements; They are usually interactive spaces, thanks to the use of ICT, they have training laboratories, and workshop rooms for analysis and feedback. They reproduce a real care environment and have state-of-the-art technical devices for patient care.
Simulation, as defined by the Center for Medical Simulation, is a situation or scenario created to allow people to experience a representation of a real situation in order to practice, learn, evaluate, test, or acquire knowledge.
The objective of the Simulation Centers is to facilitate and promote the development and comprehensive training of students and health professionals, using the most innovative learning methods. It is a new learning model that follows teaching quality standards and where innovation and research are the fundamental pillars.
HEALTH SIMULATION AND INNOVATION CENTER OF THE TECNOCAMPUS HIGHER SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES.
Clinical simulation has emerged as a new educational instrument to learn and train different skills in the field of medicine in general and will be very useful in a field as interesting and broad as Nursing, in which it is important to acquire knowledge such as the acquisition of skills and the enhancement of positive attitudes.
Simulation centers are a novel method that integrates scientific knowledge and human factors. Experience with these systems is so far limited, but it is being widely accepted and developed, as it accelerates the acquisition of skills and knowledge in a safe environment, that is, without risk to the patient.
Current clinical simulators involve the use of software capable of solving multiple situations that we may encounter in our daily work activity. They reproduce as faithfully as possible both the physiology and certain pathological situations of the patient in different scenarios (operating room, Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Room, Delivery Room, etc.).
The limiting factors that prevent the expansion of simulation for clinical training are its high cost, the human resources required, and the difficulties in assessing the effectiveness of training in real situations.
Within the field of Nursing, due to its characteristics, it is necessary to introduce teaching methodologies aimed at integrating knowledge within the clinical context, or in other words, aimed not only at evaluating knowledge, but also at evaluating skills and transmitting attitudes. ; It is what the individual knows, knows how to do and does (clinical competencies).
Experience suggests that simulation reinforces the Nursing student’s learning. The activities that students are exposed to in simulation integrate learning into the student’s brain. Sometimes they refer to scenarios that took place two years ago. In addition, simulation improves reflective thinking, especially after the analysis session.
An everyday example can better explain the importance of Nursing Simulation Centers. What plane would you travel on? In which the onboard personnel have carried out simulations or in which they have not? The answer is obvious. Well, exactly the same thing happens in healthcare.
Currently, 3D simulated operations are already being carried out before the real operation. It improves in aspects such as the reduction of intervention time, the reduction of anesthesia and greater training of health professionals.