Simulation Lab
Empath Health is committed to provide our clinical nursing staff opportunities for continued learning with the best tools including our Tidewell Hospice Simulation Lab in Bradenton.
The Simulation Lab is a part of state-of-the-art education facility available to clinical staff. The Lab is designed to resemble a patient’s living room which reflects where most hospice care is provided. Two simulation manikins have been custom programmed to assist in the education of hospice staff. They can exhibit physical symptoms such as labored breathing, elevated heart rates, abnormal lung or bowl sounds. The manikins can also be programed to have conversations and present learners with different challenges such as pain or discomfort or even being a difficult patient. They are controlled by educators in a control room who take participants through different educational programs scenarios.
The room also reflects some of the many challenges clinical staff may experience in a home such as trip hazards, medications being mismanaged, fire hazards around breathing equipment, unsafe living conditions and piles of dishes in the sink.
After the simulation is complete the educators facilitate a debriefing session to have the learners reflect on the scenario to assist with ongoing professional growth and support. This facility is a part of Tidewell Hospice’s Nurse Residency Program allowing new graduate nurses the opportunity to acquire hospice-centric skills.
Funding for the Simulation Lab was made initially through a generous donor and there are additional opportunities to help expand this critical education. Visit Tidewell Foundation to learn more.
Learn more about a career with Empath Health or Tidewell Hospice’s Nurse Residency Program.