About the Author
Deborah Ambrosio is clinical assistant professor of the School of Nursing.
Mr. Simuwell Jackson and the Stars of the Nursing Lab
Deborah Ambrosio
ambrosio@adelphi.edu
The healthcare arena is constantly evolving. Students today are expected to be prepared to function in a more sophisticated complex health care environment, one that has been transformed by dramatic technological advances.
Adelphi’s Nursing Lab (Sim Lab) offers students an atmosphere in which they can overcome their fears, deliver care, and make sound clinical judgments by working with our high fidelity simulator, Mr. Simuwell Jackson, alias Mr. Sim. The universal computerized human simulator has numerous features including personality, allowing the students to encounter what may happen in a real life situation. With the click of the mouse, instructors can direct Mr. Sim to demonstrate tracheostomy care, nasogastric tube insertion, cardiac arrhythmias, respiratory distress, and other medical conditions. He has vital signs (pulse, blood pressure, respiration) as well as the ability to speak and cough. Students hone their assessment skills by listening to his lungs, heart, and bowel sounds to hear normal and adventitious sounds. They play important roles in providing his care and developing a rapport with him. In this active learning process, students develop sound clinical judgment.
Over the past two years, I have incorporated Mr. Sim into traditional lectures with demonstration, assessment, and evaluation of the student’s skills acquisition. During the spring semester, I decided to include Mr. Sim as the focus of a gaming strategy to generate enthusiasm in learning and motivate my students to prepare for their final performance evaluation in the nursing fundamentals (skills) course.
My teaching philosophy is that learning should be fun. Having overheard my students discussing current television pop culture, I developed the “Adelphi Nurse Idol” game. Who better to be the star but Mr. Sim? The class was divided into four teams, each choosing an intervention to demonstrate in preparation for the final exam. The rules of engagement were discussed; this was not an individual competition like the television show, but a creative way to have fun, synthesize knowledge, practice psychomotor skills, and review for the final. The students were excited and eager to begin. They choose teams, and team names—the Syringes, the IV’s, the Band-aids, and the Gauze Masters. An evaluation criterion was developed so the students could vote for their Nurse Idol. The criteria included organization, patient safety, sterile and clean techniques, knowledge of the procedure, and adequately providing the intervention to Mr. Sim. The class had one week to prepare for the demonstration and to become the Adelphi Nurse Idols.
The following week, the students were confident, enthusiastic, well prepared, and cooperating with their teams. As I introduced the teams, the action began. The cameras were rolling, and each team demonstrated its interventions on Mr. Sim as the judges (their classmates) observed from another room on the “big screen.” The students reported that they felt like television stars watching instant replay to review their performances. Their performances were excellent, and no contender was eliminated.
They constructively evaluated each team using the criteria, but still had many laughs and crowned one classmate The Queen of Contamination. The criteria scores were so close they decided all were Adelphi Nurse Idols Stars.. Each team received a reference book donated by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins as its prize. The students had a great time; you could sense their pride and accomplishment for a job well done. They commented that they had fun while learning. This interactive learning experience with Mr. Sim gave them a realistic idea of patient care.They enjoyed the opportunity for hands-on learning to develop their skills prior to entering a hospital. They discussed how motivated they were to learn and felt this learning experience facilitated team building and professional relationships. They found this form of active learning highly motivating and inspired them to provide safe patient care in the future.
The technology of the Nursing Lab afforded the students the opportunity to have this positive, fun-filled, learning experience and gain confidence in their ability to provide care while preparing for the world of nursing. You are invited to visit Mr. Sim in his simulated hospital room located in Alumni Hall room 101 or you can click on our link and meet him yourself. 
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