Simulation lab upgrades are at 80% completion (%).

With an investment of one billion pesos, the Simulation Laboratory of the nursing program at the Girardot branch is poised to become one of the most cutting-edge academic spaces for patient care practice in the department. According to Professor Adriana Marcela Perdomo Martínez, who leads the assessment and semiology core of the program and also coordinates the laboratory, its renovation is currently 80% complete.

It is important to clarify that the laboratory renovation is thanks to the efforts of the Academic Vice-Rector's Office, the Academic Support Unit, the Nursing Program Directorate, and the Girardot branch administration. This renovation includes improvements to the intensive care, newborn, surgical, procedure, and emergency rooms. In addition to these improvements, infusion pumps, vital signs monitors, Doppler ultrasound, and medium- and high-quality simulators were also acquired.

“These adjustments aim to provide nursing students with appropriate scenarios to face a highly competitive job market. Learning by doing, which is the focus of the simulation, fosters better quality of care and decision-making. Simulation brings us closer to reality, provided there are high-fidelity conditions like the ones we are preparing,” says Professor Perdomo.

For this reason, the Simulation Laboratory has also expanded its staff, adding two support nurses and a biomedical engineer who, according to Professor Perdomo, is an important asset, as they help the Laboratory stay at the forefront of its procedures. In fact, one of these procedures or simulations is performed using the Anne simulator, which the Girardot branch acquired as part of the overall investment, and which is capable of recreating cardiovascular resuscitation.

“A laboratory is fundamental to the training of our students, because it allows us to systematically repeat procedures, practice the practical core of the program and reinforce soft and communication skills among students, such as performance analysis, or debrief”,” explains Professor Perdomo, who has participated in designing and structuring the adaptations of the Laboratory to benefit the simulations.

Finally, and according to her, the intervention to this academic space will be delivered, in its entirety, in this second semester of 2021, which means that the Simulation Laboratory will soon contribute to the high quality accreditation indicators of the Nursing program.

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