CMU and SVSU offer joint pilot health simulation

CMU Medical Education Partners in conjunction with Central Michigan University College of Medicine, and Saginaw Valley State University will bring learners from each university to collaborate as a team in a simulated environment that replicates the health care setting, Monday, Dec. 11 from 1-4 p.m. at the CMU College of Medicine Simulation Lab.

Four SVSU nursing students, two CMU College of Medicine medical students, and one emergency medicine resident will work together in a clinical simulation specifically designed as an interprofessional education activity.

While CMU has conducted IPE cases throughout the years, Dr. Robert Sasso, Director of Medical Simulation with CMEP, stated this is the first time an educator and nurse practitioner from CMEP Department of Medical Simulation worked in direct coordination with SVSU’s Department of Nursing team to create a scenario specifically designed for both institutions’ learners.

“For years, nurses, medical students, and other health care professionals have trained separately in the classroom environment - and yet, upon job placement, are expected to perform effectively as a collaborative group,” said Sasso. “However, with IPE curriculum it prepares learners to achieve greater collaboration and communication skills, across disciplines, to work as part of a health care team.”

Sasso further explained that simulation-based training allows learners to see opportunities to improve their decision-making skills in a controlled environment to diminish medical errors and achieve better patient outcomes in the real world.

CMEP Nurse Practitioner and Educator Laura Whiteside worked collaboratively with Jennifer Feeney, coordinator of nursing simulation lab at SVSU in the creation of this simulation case.

“My team and I provided the nursing expertise, found nursing students, and provided some of our lab resources such as our electronic medical record to aid in the authenticity of this exercise,” said Feeney. “Nurses and physicians work very closely in many patient care situations and learning to communicate with each other as students will put them a step ahead of their peers in the workplace.”

Learners will be debriefed and evaluated by Whiteside, Feeney, Dr. Matthew Petruso, a third-year EM resident, and additional faculty from both colleges.

“We hope at the end of this activity learners will recognize the benefits of this collaboration and understand each profession’s role in caring for the patient,” Whiteside said. “This pilot case will also help us to determine how to further engage learners from various disciplines in future simulation training.”

Whiteside and Feeney both expressed their enjoyment of working together and they look forward to upholding this significant partnership.