{"id":142970,"date":"2024-09-16T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=142970"},"modified":"2024-09-16T10:27:42","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T14:27:42","slug":"students-learn-team-based-nicu-care-through-hands-on-simulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/students-learn-team-based-nicu-care-through-hands-on-simulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Students Learn Team-based NICU Care Through Hands on Simulation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students at the College of Health Professions and Sciences (CHPS) are learning how to succeed on a healthcare team through immersive clinical experiences that enable them to develop skills in the delicate and high-stress environment of a simulated neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).<\/p>\n

This week is Healthcare Simulation Week and September is NICU Awareness Month.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As medicine advances and increases the survivability of pre-term infants, clinical skills in a NICU setting become even more vital for students to possess. However, training in a NICU has become increasingly difficult to access following the COVID-19 pandemic and the concerns presented by the presence of other infectious diseases like RSV and the flu, which limit opportunities for students to gain hands-on learning in critical care environments prior to entering the profession.<\/p>\n

Students in CHPS now interact with hyper-realistic baby manikins in the Blended Learning Interactive Simulation Suite, or BLISS<\/a>, a high-tech immersive space that can incorporate the sights and sounds of an intensive care setting. The suite adds a layer of complexity and realism and exposes students to the stressors of the NICU, emulating what students will see in their clinical and professional roles. While in the suite, students practice therapeutic handling skills and neonatal positioning for feeding and swallowing, behavioral assessments and vital sign monitoring. The manikins simulate newborn behaviors like crying, suctioning, breathing sounds and even seizures. Two  isolettes and a warmer are also incorporated into the instruction.<\/p>\n

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