SAN ANTONIO – The Center for Simulation Innovation at UT Health San Antonio School of Nursing was recognized on a national level for its interactive courses and trainings.
“We do work beyond the nursing students. Working with Hal back here, that’s an interprofessional education piece,” James Cleveland, director of the Center for Simulation Innovation, said. “We work with the school health professions, the respiratory therapy. So they come in and work with us. The school of physical therapy comes in and works with our nurses as well.”
The lab received accreditation from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in the area of teaching and education.
“For the accreditation process, you have to have standards. You have to have measurable outcomes. You have to be able to show that you have development. You have to be able to show the educational compliments of the simulation on top of the other ongoing educational activities that are occurring in your university setting,” Cleveland said.
The Center for Simulation Innovation opened in 2013 with one room and now there are more than 20 stations.
Some tools that help students and health care professionals include medical mannequins and a virtual reality program.
“I hope that what this means for us is that not only will we continue to meet the standard, but that we will be able to actually increase some of the things that we’re doing down there,” said Sonya Hardin, dean of School of Nursing at UT Health Science Center.
Student Benjamin Romero is learning to care for patients at the school’s Center for Simulation Innovation.
“We’re actually very fortunate to be working with our mannequins that are able to talk back to us, give us real-life cues, verbal, nonverbal,” Romero said.