“We will teach our students that nursing is also about developing deeper relationships with patients to meet all of their needs to ensure they stay healthy.” – Dr. Teresa Kochera While the College eagerly awaits the arrival of George and the first cohort of nursing students, the nursing faculty and other staff are busy preparing state-of-theart training facilities for the new program. Housed in the Munroe Science Center, the nursing program will use a remodeled classroom and a hightech, cutting-edge clinical simulation laboratory. Designed to simulate a hospital, the lab will feature a variety of staged hospital rooms where high fidelity human patient simulators, such as George, will interact with students to provide real-life medical scenarios in a controlled environment. Since hospitals have limited space for training nursing students, Wesleyan’s simulation lab will provide a safe learning environment where students can practice necessary skills before going into an actual clinical situation. “The simulation lab will not take the place of clinical education, but will serve to augment and enhance instruction,” stressed Sirena Sawyer Fritz (MSN, RN), BSN program director and assistant professor of nursing. “This type of instruction allows students to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes in a controlled environment.” The experiences can be video taped, allowing students and faculty to review the outcomes, then repeat the procedures to correct mistakes. Sim Man George can be programmed by the faculty to do almost anything including speak, cough, bleed, have a heart attack, and much, much more. The lab also will include Sim Junior (pediatric), Sim NewB (neonatal), and Mama Natalie (maternal and newborn care). Professor Fritz explained that the simulators will also help prepare students for situations they might not
see in a hospital or clinical setting. “For example, we can program the simulator to suffer an anaphylactic shock from a peanut allergy,” she described. “This can prepare our students to respond accurately and quickly if they ever face this situation with an actual patient.” Since not all nurses practice in a hospital, Wesleyan’s program will also include a simulated home health area as well as other non-clinical settings. Theatre students will bring their talent to the lab to act as family members for practicing not only critical thinking skills but also communication skills. “We will provide every student with real life experiences in the simulation lab,” said Professor Fritz, “and help her build her confidence and improve her skills before going out into the real world.” In addition to the classroom and laboratory instruction, Wesleyan’s nursing program also will include partnerships with numerous health care organizations throughout the region to train students. Hallmarks of the nursing program will include an emphasis on women’s health and holistic nursing with specific coursework designed to prepare graduates for leadership and management roles in the field of nursing. Holistic nursing focuses on addressing patients’ physical needs as well as their spiritual, cultural, social, environmental, financial, and emotional needs. “So often we can take care of patients’ diseases, but we can’t take care of their other needs,” emphasized Dr. Teresa Kochera (DNP, RN, PCCN, CNL), associate professor of nursing. “We will teach our students that nursing is also about developing deeper relationships with patients to meet all of their needs to ensure they stay healthy.”
Wesleyan College’s nursing program received the Georgia Board of Nursing’s initial approval in July 2012, and the College is on target to obtain full approval by the Georgia Board of Nursing, American Association of Colleges of Nursing/Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools/Commission on Colleges.
Wesleyan Magazine Winter 2012