DCTS’ Simulation “Patients” Prepare Nursing Students for Success

BROOMALL– Alarms signal from multiple rooms across the ICU indicating a patient in distress–

One in cardiac arrest, another losing oxygen, and a third in need of a midnight snack. Balancing the demanding duties of a Licensed Practical Nurse come as a shock to many nursing school graduates, but for Molly Murtha, it is second-nature.

At the beginning of her education in the Delaware County Technical Schools’ Practical Nursing Program, Murtha was fully immersed in fast-paced patient scenarios that had her thinking like a nurse before entering a clinical setting, thanks to the program’s fully-equipped simulation lab. Students spend 11 months learning skills inside the classroom, at six clinical rotation sites, and in the lab.

“Working with patients for the first time can be quite scary, but the fact that we have so many simulation opportunities here in this program really prepared me to provide better care at the patient’s bedside,” Murtha said.

Equipped with Laerdal mannequins, students participate in patient care simulations that promote quick thinking, problem solving, and reinforce the topics learned in the classroom. The mannequins can emulate basic bodily functions, including breathing, coughing and talking. Their measurable vital signs can also be altered to allow students to recognize prominent symptoms of health conditions.

DCTS has successfully trained the next generation of Practical Nurses to enter the workforce with confidence and the ability to fill the employment gaps in hospitals, assisted living facilities, and outpatient centers, among others. In February 2021, nursing was the fifth-most in-demand job in the American workforce, according to LinkedIn. As a result, nursing program enrollment has skyrocketed.

The DCTS’ Practical Nursing Program simulation lab was funded using Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability Act (CARES Act), awarded to the program in 2020. This funding also provided grants to students who were deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and presented financial need.

In 2020, Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce cited DCTS’ Practical Nursing program as the #1 best higher education program in Pennsylvania, based on a ten-year net value. The program holds a 90% job placement rate, and an 88% passing rate for the NCLEX-PN test, well above the national average.

To view the simulation lab in action, follow this link: https://youtu.be/jNqR87_TAjQ

To learn more about DCTS’ Practical Nursing Program and the state-of-the-art simulation lab, visit dciu.org/lpn.