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Simulation Pulse

Mitch Luker, Nursing Simulation Coordinator, NWTC

Mitch Luker, Nursing Simulation Coordinator at NWTC, discusses how they’re using virtual simulation to help address critical shortages of clinical sites.  They also describe how they’re substantially reducing simulation costs, expanding access, and improving student engagement to prepare nursing students for the real world. 

In this episode, Mitch joins the founder of Acadicus, Jon Brouchoud to discuss a range of topics important to nursing education, such as: 

  • Practical tips for setting up a VR lab 
  • Addressing critical nursing shortages and limited clinical placements
  • Using virtual sim to augment traditional sim and clinical experience
  • Comparing the cost of traditional vs. virtual simulation
  • Engaging students with immersive clinical experiences
  • Capabilities of high fidelity VR simulation
  • Diversity – using virtual sim to introduce authentic representation of actual patient populations
  • Realism of virtual sim 
  • Bringing multiple campuses together
  • VR nursing student coaching
  • NCLEX Next Gen scenarios

A text transcript of this episode can be found here: https://acadicus.com/pulse-mitch-luker/

Presenter Bio

Mitch Luker profile photo

Mitch Luker has been a nurse since 2004 and began educating the next generation of nurses in 2014. Mitch graduated from Baptist Health School of Nursing with their RN diploma and began working at the bedside, caring for patients. They have also worked as a hospital education coordinator, stroke liaison nurse, nursing supervisor, and nursing faculty. They completed their BSN and MSN at Western Governors University.

Their latest role is that of the Nursing Simulation Coordinator at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC). Most recently, Mitch received their Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE) certification through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in 2022. Mitch is currently working to create a virtual reality/augmented reality lab to be able to integrate VR and AR technologies meaningfully into the nursing curriculum.

Drs. Catherine Mohammed and Dee McGonigle, Adtalem Global Education

Catherine Mohammed, PhD, MPhil, MN, RN and Dee McGonigle PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF discuss their use of the Curbside Community content pack, sponsored by Adtalem Global Education, and how simulations can be developed that immerse students in the context of various social determinants of health, including factors that extend beyond the walls of medical facilities.

Bio: Catherine J Mohammed, PhD, MPhil, MN, RN

Bio coming soon

Bio: Dee McGonigle PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF

Bio coming soon

Content Showcase: Curbside Community

Beyond the walls of medical facilities, virtual simulation scenarios can be developed to incorporate the patient’s social, physical, and economic conditions.

In this video, we unbox the new Curbside Community content pack, sponsored by the Virtual Sim Lab team at Adtalem Global Education.  

More Information

The content pack includes a brand new Environment Setting that you see here, and is useful for creating an unlimited range of simulation scenarios, addressing social determinants of health, EMS scenarios, including multiple casualty incidents and more.

Dr. Dee McGonigle from Adtalem has agreed to join us for a new upcoming episode of the Simulation Pulse where we’ll be talking about this content pack, as well as the first of our exciting new multi-purpose patients.

The Scene Template you see here was created using the new Curbside Community content, as well as patients and assets from other packs.  It will available to visit from the Acadicus Commons, and can be imported into your own room.

 

Jeffrey Zielinski, inHealth Ambulance Service

Learn how inHealth creates interdisciplinary VR simulations that can bring participants together from multiple remote sites in activities that are otherwise prohibitively expensive, complex or dangerous.

Jeffrey Zielinski takes us on a tour of 3 VR scenes he created, and describes his vision for the future of live VR simulation.

Presenter Bio

Jeffrey ZielinskiJeff Zielinski began his career as an Emergency Medical Technician in 2009 serving patients across the northern Indiana. Jeff explored each facet of his EMS organization starting in the Ambulance as an EMT then as a Field Training Officer. Jeff was deployed to New York during Hurricane Sandy, arriving before the hurricane made it to land, sheltering through the storm then aiding the recovery after the strike.  Shortly thereafter, Jeff began his role as a Patient Advocate for his organization. Helping patients navigate their insurance and benefits while advocating for patients lacking resources and social safety nets.

Through his resource network, Jeff was position to aid the growth of his organization and began his role in Business Development and ultimately promoted to the Director of Business Development. With these skills Jeff accepted the role as Chief Operations Officer at inHealth Integrated Care beginning on day 1 of the new organization who is now proudly 5 years in business. With bases in Northwest Indiana, inHealth aimed to not only provide Advanced and Basic Life Support Ambulance service, but also was one of the first in the state of Indiana to begin a Mobile Integrated Health Initiative; providing EMS care in patients homes to prevent unnecessary hospital visits.

inHealth provides disaster relief around the country during hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters and was selected to be deployed to New York during the first wave of COVID-19, when New York was in a State of Emergency with more patients suffering during this time then beds and providers available to serve them. Jeff is focusing on bringing the local medical community closer in the VR space and providing the mechanism for providers across disciplines to work with each other who may have never had previous means to do so.

ACLS EMS Simulation by Bill Ballo

Dispatch: “Acadicus EMS unit 1 respond to the Arch Apartment Complex for a male patient complaining of severe dizziness and syncope, patient has a cardiac history and think he’s having a heart attack.”

Simulation Lead: Bill Ballo
Code Leader: Dale Lanham
Assisted by Jeff Zielinski (inHealth)

Presenter Bio

Bill BalloBill has been in EMS since 1997 and EMS Education and simulation since 2008. Bill is a graduate of St. Petersburg College with an A.S. in EMS and an A.A. in Liberal Arts. He attended the University of Florida where he earned his B.S. in Telecommunication in June of 2007. Bill earned his Master’s in Public Health from the University of South Florida in December of 2012. Bill is currently leading efforts to help faculty learn and utilize technology, including Virtual Reality, in all aspects of education at Madison College in Madison Wisconsin.

Bill’s current title is Faculty in Academic Technology in the Madison College Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). Bill continues to be involved in EMS Education on the Local, State, and National level.

Multi-Site Remote Simulation, Led by Dr. Nick Slamon

Participants from 14 organizations, collectively thousands of miles apart, joined together for this mock code simulation event, led by Dr. Slamon.

Emily (UC Davis) volunteered as code lead, and joined remotely from Zoom.  She and Dr. Slamon were assisted by Mitchell Luker (NWTC) and Jefferey Zielinski (inHealth) in immersive VR.

This simulation included a prebriefing, debriefing, and opportunities for observers to share ideas and ask questions.

Presenter Bio

dr nick slamonDr. Slamon completed medical school in 2001 at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia PA. He then completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at the Nemours/duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington Delaware. In addition he serves an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Clinical track at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. From 2007 until June 2011 Dr. Slamon worked at the University of Florida as an attending in the 24 bed mixed cardiac and pediatric intensive care unit. He also served as the fellowship program director for his final two years in Gainesville, overseeing 2 fellows per class. He then returned to duPont in July of 2011 serving as the fellowship director and overseeing the expansion from a one fellow per year program to the current 3 fellow per year, 9 fellow program.

Dr. Slamon is an active member of SCCM and the AAP. His research interests are varied but include a strong track record of education and partnership with fellows and junior faculty. Analysis of innovative ways to deliver care are of particular interest. Recent projects include a study of physician biometric parameters using wearables during live critical care activities, a similar biometric project in simulation, use of a digital stethoscope to diagnose pediatric murmurs remotely, review of rapid response activations using telemedicine technology, parameters needed to create a viable pediatric eICU, and he is currently working with a new device to help diagnose pediatric heart failure using an artificial intelligence analysis of ECG/Phonocardiograms. His most recent undertaking involves his partnership with Acadicus to improve immersive medical training through the use of virtual reality simulation.

VSL Team

Dee McGonigle, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, Craig McGonigle, Joe Bengry, and Julie Tyson describe their innovative scene editing techniques for developing simulations in Acadicus. Learn how they combine the use of a wide range of content, 3D recordings, Scene loading holocrons, physics, and asset scaling to create simulations.

Dr. Debby Hall and Kerrie Young, Amarillo College

Learn how Debby Hall, PhD, RN, CMSRN, CNE and Kerrie Young, MSN, RN, CHSE from Amarillo College expanded their sim lab with immersive PC VR experiences. 

See how they led development of a huge batch of new multiple casualty scenario assets and their experience implementing the OpenRN Hazard Identification scenario with their students.

Bio: Deborah Hall, PhD, RN, CMSRN, CNE

Dr. Hall graduated from the University of Texas at Tyler with her Doctor of Philosophy in 2019.  She received her BMSN from West Texas A&M University in 2008, and her Associate Degree in Nursing from Amarillo College in 1989.

She is certified as a nurse educator (CNE), Current Certified Medical Surgical Registered Nurse (CMSRN), and an Online Instructor Certification through ENMU.  She is licensed as an Unencumbered Registered Nurse by the Texas State Board of Nurse Examiners.

She holds several honors and awards, including Panhandle Great 25 Nurses Academic Scholarship, the Amarillo College Associate Degree Nursing Faculty Caring Heart Award, the Amarillo College Faculty Excellence Award – Backwards Design, and the Amarillo College Faculty Excellence Award – Professional Development.

Her research experience involves the use of therapy dogs on nursing student stress, and studying the effects of technology on nursing students’ success during their final school semester and transition to professional nursing practice.  She has authored several peer-reviewed journal publications in Nurse Educator, Nursing and Nursing: Journal of Clinical Excellence, and has been featured in several podcasts and presentations.

She has been teaching at Amarillo College Associate Degree Nursing Program since 2008, where she is a Tenured Professor and Instructor of Record.

She plans to conduct several future research projects involving the use of VR technology in clinical simulation, personal health trackers to improve mental health and well being, and theoretical development of animal assisted interventions and the human animal bond.

Bio: Kerrie Young, MSN, RN, CHSE

Kerrie is the coordinator of the Simulation Center and the Nursing Resource Center at Amarillo College.

She graduated from Amarillo College Nursing in Dec 2001, and has been a nurse for over 20 years in the ICU and ER at BSA Hospital in Amarillo.  She holds several certifications including CCRN, CCRN-K and now hold the CHSE (2021) which is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator.

Kerrie received her BSN and MSN from West Texas A&M University in Canyon Tx in 2008 and began working at Amarillo College as a full-time nurse educator that year where she started working with simulation.

Kerrie has since created and facilitated simulation experiences for more than 15 years, and has taught in all of the Amarillo College Nursing program levels, including medical-surgical classroom and clinical, intensive care class room and clinical, Fundamentals classroom and Skills lab.

Kerrie was the first recipient of the Panhandle Great 25 Valerie Kiper Leadership Award and Scholarship.  She has also authored several articles, presented at several national conferences including the IMSH Conference with the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. She has also facilitated several grants including 2 for the Amarillo College Foundation that enabled development of new simulation programs at Amarillo College with nursing, provide simulation professional development opportunities for nursing faculty, and offered a workshop to the Regional Panhandle partners in clinical education.

She is currently working with and wrapping up a large grant from the State of Texas that helped Amarillo College develop, facilitate, and evaluate the first full VR training system in the Panhandle for our nursing students and plans to finish her dissertation (Ed.D in Nursing Education) through Northcentral University in San Diego, CA in 2023.

Virtually a Reality: The Future of Neonatology Simulation-based Education with Dr. Ryan M. McAdams

Dr. Ryan M. McAdams is a neonatologist in Madison, Wisconsin an Associate Professor and Division Chief for the University of Wisconsin Department of Pediatrics’ Division of Neonatology & Newborn Nursery, and a faculty member in the Division of Global Pediatrics.  Through research, scholarship, and clinical work, he is committed to providing the best care to every baby everywhere so they can survive and thrive.  Watch the full video here (link).

Highlights
  • Dr. McAdams is interested in using art as a way to help kids pay for school, medical services, and food
  • Didn’t grow up as a gamer, but as an educator, he sees a lot of gaps in the way we teach, and the effectiveness of it.
  • VR is a contemporary approach that could memorable learning – help lock information into the memory.
  • Traditional neonatal simulations are quickly forgotten, but he can remember real life resuscitations he was at.
  • VR experiences can be easily remembered later
  • Plastic baby mannequin doesn’t seem real, so they’re very aware of it, people have a hard time absorbing the learning experience
  • 3D scan of delivery room at hospital, operating room – used to develop the virtual reality scene in high definition – side-by-side comparison of photo vs. virtual scene
  • Your brain thinks it’s real – important to trigger memory, allows for better learning, doesn’t feel as artificial
  • VR scene can’t be too empty – needs details to improve immersion
  • Importance of audio – conversations, noise, alarms.  If you don’t have that, it doesn’t seem as real.  Where is the threshold?  Otherwise you focus on what’s not there.
  • Simulating life, not simulation.
  • VR simulation can be tailored to the learner.  This sim is geared toward people with a little more experience, but it could be oriented toward someone newer.
  • Patients and family members can be manipulated with the Simulation Manager.
  • The focus is on the activity, not just how I look as an avatar – I’m wearing a spiffy hat, etc. doesn’t matter.  It’s more about the patient, family members.
  • Demo of ambient sound boards, assets, environment, stethoscope, PIP/PEP adjustments, mask position, bp cuff
  • Visualizing the airway, using the laryngoscope – when you intubate, you can see the vocal cords
  • Not focused on haptic touch, but knowing what to do – situational awareness, communication skills, critical thinking.
  • Can quiz participants on what size endotracheal tube to pick?  How far would you put it in?  What size blade would you use?  How would you know that it’s in correctly?
  • It’s about the dialogue and conversation about it – when the alarms are on, and the sounds are crazy, it’s good that it stresses you out so you can practice it, and get used to the sequence, and develop a comfort level.
  • If you have an expert who really wants to challenge a participant, you can increase the complexity
  • Family members in VR.  You would often have the partner waiting to hear how things went.  These are often unexpected, urgent / crash sections.  Bewildered parent is waiting, and you need to communicate to them – simulate with really good actors, really stressed out people, or someone who doesn’t speak English, to practice and make mistakes so when you have the same conversation in real life, you can communicate in a good way.
  • Dad’s stressed out, he’s worried, the baby isn’t doing well or dies – how do you explain that?  It can be traumatic for the health provider, not just the parent.
  • Prenatal counselling, pre-delivery consult, then post-delivery, then in the NICU, discussions there – when they’re discharged home and have follow-ups.  So many opportunities to say, “What would the learning experience be now?”
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion – why not train and become aware in a safe environment, with actors who are from different backgrounds, and play that role.  What opportunities are there for learning?
  • VR could be a very powerful tool to practice these things, and absolutely affects a person’s experience in the hospital.
  • So many surreal juxtapositions in medicine that are very difficult to simulate but could be done virtually

Exploring Educational Design in VR with Dr. Eric B. Bauman

Dr. Eric B. Bauman is an award-winning educational designer, and proven innovation executive with expertise in the fields of game-based teaching and learning, simulation, VR/AR and emerging technology. He received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction.  In addition, Dr Bauman is a registered nurse, firefighter, and paramedic with more than 25 years of clinical, research, teaching, and command experience.

Highlights

  • Pathfinder makes Tony dance.
  • VR Simulations provide the ability for someone to very quickly refresh their knowledge on a certain aspect of their field.
  • The expense to own VR technology has shrunk more so than the expenses of other medical technologies.
  • VR Gives the ability to add personality and life details around a patient, more so than a mannequin.
  • Anyone can use and operate an Acadicus VR simulation.

Slides: bit.ly/acadicus-roundtable-04-23-2021

Full video: https://vimeo.com/541668365

Exploring Collaborative and Interactive Anatomy Models in VR with Frank Emanuele

Frank Emanuele has been instructing college biology courses since 2002, focusing on anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology and microbiology.  He currently instructs courses at Cochise College and has been a faculty member there since 2016 and a faculty advisor in Cochise College’s Undergraduate Research Club since 2017. 

Frank has been a pioneer in the use of VR with his classrooms since 2018.  In this Roundtable we’ll explore interactive VR anatomy models developed by Frank in Acadicus, providing both collaborative and immersive learning opportunities for his students.

Slides: http://bit.ly/acadicus-roundtable-04-09-2021

Full video: https://vimeo.com/536731523

Highlights

  • Pathfinder climbs a 20 story skeleton!
  • Using VR in an anatomy class at Cochise College
  • Social distancing measures
  • Lesson plans and activities
  • Video of anatomy students at Cochise College in a VR lecture
  • Taking apart and examining specific components of digital human skeletons
  • Peering inside virtual anatomy to see every piece 
  • Moving and scaling virtual anatomy models at will 
  • VR gives your brain the information needed to truly imagine and visualize elements being taught.
  • How virtual simulation compares to videos or pictures.

Upping the Virtual Simulation Game with Dee McGonigle

Dee McGonigle, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, is the Director of the Virtual Learning Experiences Simulation Excellence (VLESE) in the Center for Transformational Education and Learning Innovation (TELI) at Chamberlain University and Professor in the Graduate Program in the Chamberlain College of Nursing.  She has 44 years of experience in teaching and learning that includes nursing informatics, serious gaming, simulation, and virtual learning with the realities, especially VR. 

Slides: bit.ly/acadicus-roundtable-03-26-2021

Full video: https://vimeo.com/530986411

Open RN: Creating OER Nursing Textbooks and Virtual Reality Scenarios with Kim Ernstmeyer

Kim Ernstmeyer is the Director of Open RN and a Nursing Instructor at Chippewa Valley Technical College.  She’s an experienced nurse educator and passionate about teaching clinical judgment and patient safety using simulation.  

In this interactive Acadicus Roundtable, Kim shared information about her work leading Open RN, a project funded by a $2.5 million dollar grant from the Department of Education and focused on creating 5 OER Nursing Textbooks with 25 associated Virtual Reality scenarios using the Acadicus platform.  We also explored firsthand some of the already completed simulations live in VR.

Slides: https://bit.ly/acadicus-roundtable-03-12-2021

Full video: https://vimeo.com/523203702

Carly Brady

“I Got a Headset, Now What?” – Best Practices for Success in Deploying VR-based Learning with Carly Brady

Carly Brady is the Manager of Academic Technology at Madison College’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) and leads a team of over ten Instructional Consultants and Technologists who support all faculty at Madison College. With years of experience in online learning and other flexible formats, Carly has recently led Madison College’s exciting journey into Virtual Reality with the help of Bill Ballo and Acadicus.

Slides: http://bit.ly/acadicus-roundtable-02-26-2021

Your Guide to Running a Virtual Simulation

A Live Demonstration from VR with Jon Brouchoud and John “Pathfinder” Lester, joined by Neal Ruff playing the role of Miles Johnson.

 

Bill Ballo

Bill Ballo is an EMS/Paramedic Instructor and Professor at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Madison College. In this interactive Roundtable, learn more about how Bill is using Acadicus to build foundational education programs and 3D lectures in anatomy, casualty training and emergency response.

Slides: http://bit.ly/acadicus-roundtable-01-29-2021

Full video: https://vimeo.com/506308379

Dr. Nick Slamon

Dr. Slamon recently completed a research study published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science.  The study focused on teaching pediatric airway intubation using VR Simulations in Acadicus with inexperienced junior fellows and residents.

Dr. Slamon completed medical school in 2001 at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia PA. He then completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at the Nemours/duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington Delaware. In addition he serves an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Clinical track at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. From 2007 until June 2011 Dr. Slamon worked at the University of Florida as an attending in the 24 bed mixed cardiac and pediatric intensive care unit. He also served as the fellowship program director for his final two years in Gainesville, overseeing 2 fellows per class. He then returned to duPont in July of 2011 serving as the fellowship director and overseeing the expansion from a one fellow per year program to the current 3 fellow per year, 9 fellow program.

Slides: bit.ly/acadicus-roundtable-01-15-2021

Full Video: https://vimeo.com/500973476

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