In-person lab courses help students gain hands-on experience amidst new health protocols.
Mason School of Nursing students Allen King and Carla Abril were among the students back on campus on Monday, August 24 participating in a face-to-face nursing lab for NURS 455. Abril, King, and all their classmates suited up in full personal protective equipment (PPE) including a face-shield so they could acclimate to wearing PPE and safely perform simulated physical exams on one another.
Kathy Chang, instructor for the class, told her students that the additional safety procedures mirrored how a nurse in a professional setting would approach a patient encounter. Chang offered helpful tips for working with the PPE, telling students that spreading toothpaste on the face-shield might stop it from fogging up. “You are here to learn. You are not here to be perfect.” she reminded her students. The NURS 455 students, all seniors, were enthusiastic to be back on campus and to do the lab in person. “The setting is so familiar, but all the precautions – the blue tape on the floor, staying 6 feet apart –make it different,” says King. Abril agrees that the new protocols and precautions “feel like a dream” yet she’s thankful to be back in the lab.
NURS 455 is held in the Virtual Simulation lab located in Peterson Hall. The virtual learning space is built to provide hands-on learning experiences for students enrolled in health fields, such as nursing, social work, and community health. Dr. Helen Stacks will be renovating the Virtual Simulation lab in the coming months to further provide hands-on experience for students. For more information about the Virtual Simulation lab and how simulations are integrated into the curriculum, please read Need to Finish Your Clinical Hours? We’ve Got a Simulation for That.