Markin Hall Provides Practical Experiences for Health Sciences Students
Peter Kellett
(top) Students receive hands-on training with the infant and birthing patient simulators in the Simulation Health Centre. (bottom) Student practise counselling techniques in the Addictions Counselling Group Lab.
The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Lethbridge is helping to meet the complex challenges of today’s health-care systems through innovative programming, research and, most recently, improved facilities. Building on and improving existing resources, the Simulation Health Centre and the Addictions Counselling Lab in Markin Hall position the U of L as a leader in educating a new generation of health-care professionals. Located on the second floor of Markin Hall, the Simulation Health Centre provides students with the opportunity to practice nursing skills and critical decision-making in a safe and interactive way. More than doubling the size of the previous lab facilities, the centre includes large lab spaces designed to mimic acute care hospital settings, patient assessment rooms and debriefing rooms. In addition, the centre includes adult, infant and birthing patient simulators, providing a level of realism never before experienced at the U of L. Operated from a separate control room that looks into the lab, instructors can program the simulators to reflect various patient care scenarios. Each simulated patient has breath, bowel function, heart sounds, palpable pulses and urinary output approximating human responses. The simulators allow students to take blood pressure, start IVs, and will respond to the administration of certain medications and may even die if proper care is not administered. “During the course of their program, students will participate in various levels of simulation experiences at Lethbridge College and at the University of Lethbridge,” says U of L nursing instructor Peter Kellett. “This facility greatly increases the opportunities for our nursing students to practise the skills that they will utilize in clinical practice as nurses, so it will contribute to student confidence and practice readiness.”
Similarly, the new Addictions Counselling Lab provides hands-on experience to students in the Addictions Counselling program. “Students have consistently told us that the intense counselling lab work they do is the highlight of the program for them and we are exceedingly grateful for our expanded lab facilities,” says Dr. Gary Nixon, addictions counselling program director and coordinator. As part of the program, students learn individual, group and family counselling skills in weekly small group labs. The new lab facility provides 12 individual, one group, and one family room all equipped with the latest in digital recording technology. All rooms are equipped with video cameras that record the student’s counselling session and are linked to a digital monitoring system that allows lab facilitators to supervise the student’s counselling performance and skill demonstration in each room. Recorded sessions can also be easily downloaded and viewed by students to further their counselling skill training and development. When they graduate, students are well equipped with the practical counselling skills to make a difference in their work with clients on addictions, mental health and other related issues. The Simulation Health Centre and the Addictions Counselling Lab offer increased opportunities for students and serve as showcase facilities for the Faculty of Health Sciences and the University. For more information about the Simulation Health Centre and the Addictions Counselling Lab, and how you can support them, please contact University Advancement at 403-329-2582 or e-mail advancement@uleth.ca.
“This facility greatly increases the opportunities for our nursing students to practice the skills that they will utilize in clinical practice as nurses, so it will contribute to student confidence and practice readiness.” Peter Kellett, nursing instructor
Dr. Gary Nixon
“Students have consistently told us that the intense counselling lab work they do is the highlight of the program for them and we are exceedingly grateful for our expanded lab facilities.” Dr. Gary Nixon, addictions counselling program director and coordinator