New Girl
There’s a new girl in the
Science and Nursing Building.
Say hello to Noelle.
written by Wanda Lewis, MSN, RN
The School of Nursing at Indiana Wesleyan University recently purchased a brand-new, high-tech Noelle birthing
manikin for the Patient Care Simulation Lab. This high-fidelity manikin, manufactured by the Gaumard Scientific
Company, is an advanced birthing simulator that “delivers” a baby—the realistic, advanced-functioning newborn
manikin, Hal. Noelle is designed to provide a complete
birthing experience before, during, and after delivery.
The Noelle manikin is equipped with a precision programmable fetal delivery system for repeatable teaching
exercises, including normal, rapid, and prolonged labor
and delivery simulations. Labor can be paused, continued, or accelerated at any time. The manikin can be
programmed so that each student receives exactly the
same scenario, but it also includes at least thirty obstetric
scenarios that can be modified as the instructor requires.
Scenarios and their results can be saved and shared for
later use.
Noelle is completely tetherless and wireless and has many
other innovative features. Feature highlights include:
• breech presentation simulation
• shoulder dystocia simulation
• C-section simulation
• instrumented delivery
• realistic birth canal with cervix
• application of maternal and fetal vital signs at specified
points during the labor
• computerized fetal monitor programmed to interact
with labor scenario
• programmable fetal rotations
Nursing students are greatly benefiting from the use of
the Noelle manikin during clinical simulations. Maternal/
Newborn assistant professor Angela Bailey, MSN, RN
noted that, among other benefits, “our Noelle manikin has
afforded us the opportunity for a more realistic post-partum hemorrhage in-class simulation, which has significantly improved pre- to post-test quiz scores.”
Indiana Wesleyan University nursing students are currently being educated with the most advanced simulators
available. As this technology is very expensive, the School
of Nursing is seeking donations for its next simulator. If
you would like to donate to this endeavor, please mail
your tax-deductible donation to: Indiana Wesleyan University, 4201 S. Washington St., Marion, IN 46953 ATTN:
School of Nursing. +
Above: Noelle is a world-class medical simulation model from Gaumard
Scientific. She is widely considered to be the leading high-fidelity birthing
manikin. Photo from gaumard.com.
Below: The 33-bed simulation lab in the new Science and Nursing Building will allow IWU SON students increased hands-on learning experiences with state-of-the-art equipment. Photo by Jer Nelsen.