Simulation suites to train next generation of nurses, midwives and counsellors
Monday 25 July 2016
A set of hi-tech simulation suites used to train the next generation of nurses, midwives and counsellors is being officially opened at the University of Salford.
The newly developed suites, which enable students to learn a wide range of skills in as realistic a setting as possible, are being opened at the University’s Mary Seacole Building on Wednesday July 27.
The nursing and midwifery suites feature rooms which are designed to look exactly like hospital wards and contain realistic human patient simulators – high-tech electronic manikins which can be operated by specialist technicians from an adjoining control room.
These simulators are able to move, ‘speak’ via a microphone controller, blink and even sweat.
They also have pulses and moveable chest plates to simulate breathing, enabling students to respond to a wide variety of medical scenarios – from dressing minor wounds and dealing with a patient having a fit to carrying out cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on somebody experiencing cardiac arrest.
Next generation of midwives
Another suite of rooms designed to look exactly like a maternity unit features a set of patient simulators representing birthing women and new born babies, and enables midwifery students to respond to any situation that might occur before, during and following labour.
The midwifery suite also includes a pool where home-based water births can be simulated, while other areas represent postnatal and neonatal units.
The £1.7m training suites come complete with everything from oxygen delivery ports to nurse call buttons and bed lights. All equipment and furniture has been purchased from NHS suppliers, with even the corridors linking the rooms designed to recreate a hospital – rather than an academic – environment.
Students using them will receive practical training before going out on placements in hospitals across Greater Manchester, and their responses can be analysed in detail in the classroom by tutors and fellow students.
Special counselling facility for community
Nearby, a special counselling suite has been designed in softer colours and will be used for training students to become professional counsellors and psychotherapists.
The suite, featuring therapeutic areas where one-to-one, family and group interactions can occur, will also shortly be available for members of the local community and the University is hoping to work with local charities which will be able to use the facility.
The suites will be opened by the Vice Chancellor Professor Helen Marshall during the event, which is part of a wider celebration of nursing, midwifery and psychotherapy at the University.
Tours of the new facility will be available to guests including Rebecca Long Bailey, MP for Salford and Eccles, Barbara Keeley, MP for Worsley and Eccles South, Cllr Gina Reynolds, Executive Support for Social Care and Mental Health at Salford City Council, and Angela Couchman, Research Office Manager at the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
Brian Boag, Interim Dean of the University’s School of Nursing, Midwifery, Social Work and Social Sciences, said: “We are the biggest training provider of nurses and midwives in the North West and these ground-breaking facilities will provide a real benefit for the area, enabling us to give the best possible training for students who will go out and perform a service in hospitals around the region.
“Everything from light fittings to bedsheets has been designed to recreate a real-world hospital environment, so our students are as experienced as they can possibly be before they even go out to work on placements.
“Counselling is also an essential – and sadly overlooked – means of improving people’s lives and our new training suite will not only enable our students to get high quality experience as they learn these important skills, but will be used to provide a much-needed facility for local charities who want to help members of the Salford community.”
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