Through Hord Coplan Macht’s recent work with schools of nursing, allied health, and health professions, we have identified the use of specialized simulation environments in the following environments.
Trends + Best Practices
Intensive
Care Units
Public Health
Environments
Surgical
Suites
Objective Structured Clinical Examination Suite
(OSCE)
Multi-Sensory
Environments
Multi-Sensory Environments
In institutions with Occupational Therapy programs, there has been a growing emphasis on training students to treat patients with autism, Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, and mental health issues. Multi-sensory environments, such as Snoezelen rooms, have been incorporated in several institutions in the United States since their initial development in Europe in the 1970’s. By incorporating a variety of controlled stimuli, these spaces simulate rooms for treating patients that are not able to organize or respond appropriately to multi-sensory stimulation. In addition to the five well-known senses, some patients need assistance and development with the Vestibular and Proprioception senses; these multi-sensory environments help students learn to care for these patients.
Snoezelen Environment
Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Suite
An OSCE includes a timed examination for students at a series of stations or exam rooms, where a standardized patient is examined on a one-to-one basis with one or two impartial examiners. Students rotate through, completing all the stations on their circuit. This allows all students to encounter the same scenarios individually. This tightly controlled scenario is an improvement over traditional exam simulation methods because it minimizes deviation.
George Washington University School of Nursing - OSCE Suite
Surgical Suites
Interprofessional practice and education is paramount to successful patient care and is essential in the highly complex environment of patient surgery. A surgical suite simulation environment is considerably larger than most environments and is typically between 400 – 450 sf. Components include an operating table, multiple booms with surgical lights, monitors, anesthesiology cart, electronic charting, equipment cabinets, instrument cabinet and an adjacent scrub sink. These are environments where multiple health professions students come together to learn specifics of the surgical process.
Mercy Health Services – A typical operating room within the surgical suite
Public Health Environments
The continued evolution of hospitals toward focusing more exclusively on the acutely ill, have created a need for follow ups and monitoring to take place in non-institutional settings, such as apartments and single-family homes. These environments pose challenges to health providers, specifically for Occupational Therapists and Emergency Medical Technicians. Higher education institutions have responded by creating simulation environments that include residential settings, complete with the challenging spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms. Sizes can vary based on the type of cohort, but typically range from1,000 – 1,200 sf.
Front Range Community College Gray's Peak Health Care Careers Center
Intensive Care Units
As healthcare delivery changes to more ambulatory care and hospital buildings become smaller with more emphasis on acute care, institutions of health science have had to continue to develop specialized environments that prepare their students for the workforce. High-fidelity ICU Simulation Units, with isolation rooms, have become increasingly common in new health professions buildings and renovations. These units are often two-bed configurations with movable partitions to convert into single-bed units, and have debriefing rooms and control rooms physically adjacent to them. These typically range from 750 – 900 sf.
Harford Community College Nursing & Allied Health Professions Building – ICU Simulation
Through Hord Coplan Macht’s recent work with schools of nursing, allied health, and health professions, we have identified the use of specialized simulation environments in the following environments.
Trends + Best Practices
Intensive
Care Units
Public Health
Environments
Surgical
Suites
Objective Structured Clinical Examination Suite
(OSCE)
Multi-Sensory
Environments
Multi-Sensory Environments
In institutions with Occupational Therapy programs, there has been a growing emphasis on training students to treat patients with autism, Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, and mental health issues. Multi-sensory environments, such as Snoezelen rooms, have been incorporated in several institutions in the United States since their initial development in Europe in the 1970’s. By incorporating a variety of controlled stimuli, these spaces simulate rooms for treating patients that are not able to organize or respond appropriately to multi-sensory stimulation. In addition to the five well-known senses, some patients need assistance and development with the Vestibular and Proprioception senses; these multi-sensory environments help students learn to care for these patients.
Snoezelen Environment
Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Suite
An OSCE includes a timed examination for students at a series of stations or exam rooms, where a standardized patient is examined on a one-to-one basis with one or two impartial examiners. Students rotate through, completing all the stations on their circuit. This allows all students to encounter the same scenarios individually. This tightly controlled scenario is an improvement over traditional exam simulation methods because it minimizes deviation.
George Washington University School of Nursing - OSCE Suite
Surgical Suites
Interprofessional practice and education is paramount to successful patient care and is essential in the highly complex environment of patient surgery. A surgical suite simulation environment is considerably larger than most environments and is typically between 400 – 450 sf. Components include an operating table, multiple booms with surgical lights, monitors, anesthesiology cart, electronic charting, equipment cabinets, instrument cabinet and an adjacent scrub sink. These are environments where multiple health professions students come together to learn specifics of the surgical process.
Mercy Health Services – A typical operating room within the surgical suite
Public Health Environments
The continued evolution of hospitals toward focusing more exclusively on the acutely ill, have created a need for follow ups and monitoring to take place in non-institutional settings, such as apartments and single-family homes. These environments pose challenges to health providers, specifically for Occupational Therapists and Emergency Medical Technicians. Higher education institutions have responded by creating simulation environments that include residential settings, complete with the challenging spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms. Sizes can vary based on the type of cohort, but typically range from1,000 – 1,200 sf.
Front Range Community College Gray's Peak Health Care Careers Center
Intensive Care Units
As healthcare delivery changes to more ambulatory care and hospital buildings become smaller with more emphasis on acute care, institutions of health science have had to continue to develop specialized environments that prepare their students for the workforce. High-fidelity ICU Simulation Units, with isolation rooms, have become increasingly common in new health professions buildings and renovations. These units are often two-bed configurations with movable partitions to convert into single-bed units, and have debriefing rooms and control rooms physically adjacent to them. These typically range from 750 – 900 sf.
Harford Community College Nursing & Allied Health Professions Building – ICU Simulation