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“ Fire departments, hospitals, and universities are ready to hire our graduates. Depending on a student’ s goals, there’ s a place for them in the field.”
— Andrea Elliott, Medical Simulation, Title V, Big Bend Community College signs, including blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation, just like they would on a real patient.
Higgs jumps at any chance to learn from simulation.“ This type of training allows me to become more comfortable with the procedures in an environment that reduces my fear of making a mistake,” she says. up to $ 70,000 per year. As of 2016, a new Washington state law( WAC 246-840-534) requires that simulations be run by certified simulation technicians; techs must pass the CHSOS( Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist) exam and get two years of hands-on simulation practice before landing an entry-level job in the field.
The CHSOS test is a couple of years old, and many simulation technicians working in the field aren’ t formally certified, said Big Bend spokeswoman Andrea Elliott. The new law tightens the regulatory environment in the field, formalizing training and education requirements for simulation technicians. That means more techs and those aspiring to work in the field will be seeking certification, but there’ s a distinct lack of education or training programs available to help.
This year, Big Bend Community College stepped into that void, creating the Medical Simulation Associate in Applied Science degree, a program routing students directly into the healthcare simulation field, combining CHSOS exam preparation with the requisite hands-on training.
The program is designed to accommodate 50 students— 25 firstyear and 25 second-year— and it launched in Fall 2016. Officially a“ transfer” degree, it’ s designed to transfer seamlessly to a four-year university, but Elliott expects most students to start work right away.“ This is a two-year program, so students will graduate with their two years of hands-on experience, and be able to jump into the field,” she says.
That’ s appealing for students and employers alike.“ We have major interest in our technicians from industry,” says Elliott.“ Fire departments, hospitals, and universities are ready to hire our graduates. Depending on a student’ s goals, there’ s a place for them in the field.”
“ Simulators will continue to get smaller and become more lifelike.”
— Peter Ford, lead simulation technology specialist, Swedish Medical Center real-time replication
A typical healthcare simulation might involve sophisticated software, a lifelike mannequin, and flesh-and-blood people, all meticulously orchestrated by a simulation technician, who usually controls and observes the scene from behind reflective glass. Simulations might also help students learn to manage patient information in the electronic health records system or recognize complex psycho-social symptoms for conditions like alcohol withdrawal.“ Working as a simulation technician is like video gaming for the healthcare industry,” says Elliott.
One recent Big Bend training simulation involved a virtual asthma attack, recalls Higgs; students saw real-time effects on the virtual patient’ s respiratory rate as blue lights inside the mannequin’ s mouth signaled airway constriction. Students can read the mannequin’ s vital an emerging field
Healthcare simulation puts technicians on the cusp of an emerging field, says Peter Ford, lead simulation technician at Seattle’ s Swedish Medical Center. Ford teaches remotely for Big Bend’ s medical simulation program. He entered the field seven years ago, after learning about the complexities of using simulation in nurse training from his mother, who directed the two-year RN program at Tacoma Community College.
Back then, a mannequin was“ tethered” inside the simulation room, says Ford, by cables that regulated its internal workings. Today, mannequins include internal wireless routers and can be used outside the lab in real-life settings, like the site of a car crash or inside an ambulance.“ Simulators will continue to get smaller and become more lifelike,” says Ford, which increases the range of scope and complexity of procedures that students and professionals
http:// www. bit. ly / WACsimulation http:// www. ssih. org / About-Simulation
can practice.
Ultimately, it’ s about improving patient outcomes, says Ford.“ People are amazed that this type of training exists, and when they learn about the resources that go into simulation training, they’ re more confident in their professionals who care for them.”
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