Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College uses world-class, advanced simulation technology in preparing future nurses to provide safe, competent and high-quality patient care.
Our baccalaureate and graduate programs incorporate clinical simulation as part of the overall nursing curriculum through the Clinical Simulation Institute. The institute on the main campus features six simulation labs that cover 10,500 square feet of learning space, including:
- two medical/surgical 10-bed units
- a 10-bay physical assessment lab
- an operating room suite
- a 4-bed critical care simulation theater
- a maternal and pediatric lab
- two patient exam rooms
- more than 30 patient simulators including SimMan 3G and METI HPS
The institute at our West Campus site includes the following resources:
- two adult labs, a women’s health lab and a pediatric lab
- a three-bed skills and three-bay assessment lab
- 15 simulators, including: SimJunior, SimMan 3G Essentials, SimMom, SimNewB, SimJunior, SimBaby, VitalSim and various task trainers
Enhancing patient safety and quality
Our clinical simulation programs offer students a supportive learning environment where they put their knowledge and skills into action prior to clinical rotations. Through skills labs and live demonstrations, nursing faculty and simulation staff create a variety of complex and challenging scenarios that provide students with experiences they are likely to encounter in a live clinical environment. They learn in a simulated clinical environment where mistakes can occur without adverse consequences to a live patient. Students learn to prioritize and delegate multiple patients with complex needs, collaborate within multidisciplinary health care teams, and communicate with family members.
As students learn from their experiences, they develop increased competence and confidence, ultimately enhancing their ability to provide exceptional patient care.
Promoting diversity and cultural awareness
The Clinical Simulation Institute incorporates diversity and cultural awareness in its simulation programs. In different clinical scenarios, patient simulators are assigned a name, medical history and condition, as well as a particular religious and cultural background. Faculty and staff develop various scenarios that allow students to identify and respect different cultural needs so they become aware of them once they start working with real patients. As a result, students become more knowledgeable in providing care to a diverse patient population.
A Center of Educational Excellence
In 2008, the Clinical Simulation Institute became a Laerdal Center of Educational Excellence. Laerdal Medical is an international leader in medical devices and interactive computer and patient simulators for educating health care professionals. Goldfarb School of Nursing received this honor after consistently demonstrating excellence in its simulation educational and research programs. Only an exclusive group of centers that exhibit outstanding contributions in the field have received this designation.
Society for Simulation in Healthcare Accreditation
In 2012, the Clinical Simulation Institute was awarded accreditation by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) in the area of "Teaching/Education Standards and Measurement". The SSH is a society of educators and researchers united to improve performance and reduce errors in patient care through the use of clinical simulation labs. SSH accredits institutes who demonstrate compliance to specified standards and are able to measure success in clinical simulations. Goldfarb School of Nursing is only one of 21 international centers awarded the accreditation.