Reality Check: Generous Simulation Donation Prepares Students to Care for Their Tiniest Patients

For MUSC’s accelerated BSN students experiencing pediatrics for the first time, the need for hands-on practice gains new meaning when their patients could be as small as palm size. “A number of our students have no prior experience with children,” said Assistant Professor Kathryn Kinyon, DNP, CPNP AHN-BC, who teaches the course Nursing Care of Children and their Families. “There are huge fundamental differences in how one does certain procedures in pediatrics versus the adult world. For example, because babies have such small airways, you have to change the whole tracheostomy tube since it doesn’t have separate parts, which can increase the risk of fumbling and harm. Students need the opportunity to practice these skills in a different, safe way.”

Simulation baby mannequins provide just such opportunities, with students gaining direct, hands-on experience in the controlled environment of the classroom and MUSC’s Healthcare Simulation Center. The Marianne Chitty Endowment provided a generous donation in August which enabled the College of Nursing (CON) to purchase four state-of-the-art simulation babies, which have made an immediate impact.

“These baby mannequins have allowed us to give students that real, hands-on experience in basic care activities that they desperately need, particularly in this time of COVID when there has been some limitations in what they get to do in the hospital,” Kinyon noted. “They are an investment, and it is immensely wonderful that the donor was able to see the great value in providing funding so students can learn on these baby mannequins.”

The donation has also allowed students during their weekly skills lab to have more time to directly interact with a simulation baby. “It’s nice because so far we have only worked with adults,” said Latyra Capers, ABSN ’22. “Everything is so much smaller, and getting to see it before we start our clinicals is better.” Jakob Bramblett, ABSN ’22, agreed. “It’s about getting the experience without the pressure at first of taking care of a real pediatric patient,” he pointed out.

Each simulation baby is equipped with a tracheostomy (hole into the windpipe) and a Mic-Key button (a tube to move fluids directly into the stomach), among other features. “Through my clinical experience so far and nursing in general, repetition and practice are how I learn best,” shared McKensi Austin, ABSN ’22. “All of these skills are so new, and the hands-on activities allow us to become familiar so that we don’t have to rely on our preceptor to completely teach us a skill from scratch.”

From demonstrating different tracheostomy attachments to child-sized Ambo bags and pediatric probs, CON Instructor Areti “Tina” Klein, MSN, RN addresses pressing issues students might encounter during a clinical rotation. Those learning experiences directly translate into confidence. “Even though sometimes you might feel some pressure because your instructor is watching, this environment gives us a great opportunity to learn the correct and safe way to do things before we go into the hospital and work with real life, sick kids,” emphasized Sarah Charlip, ABSN ’22. Thanks to the innovation of these simulation babies and the generous support of our donors, like the Marianne Chitty Endowment, our students are prepared and confident when caring for infants and children during their clinical experiences.