Students of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing have access to two locations for skills training and immersive simulations. The Charles F. & Peggy Evans Center for Caring Skills within the NHWSN building and the Wesley Woods Graduate Simulation and Skills Facility within the Emory University Hospital at Wesley Woods.
The Evans Center is predominantly used for undergraduate student experiences. Four open-ward rooms facilitate students working in small groups to learn basic nursing skills and physical assessment techniques. When these activities are not taking place, the rooms are set up for various immersive simulations, many of which incorporate multiple simulated patients; and a combination of simulators and task trainers the met learning objectives of the course for that day. A variety of human patient simulator manikins of varying gender, ethnicity, ages, and technological capabilities are used to provide students with a range of educational experiences.
The Wesley Woods Graduate Simulation and Skills Facility includes an outpatient clinic space with fully functional clinic-style patient examination rooms, a flexible classroom space with four simulated patient bays, and several small meeting rooms. The exam rooms are mostly used for teaching advanced assessment of both adults and children using standardized patients and guided teaching models for simulations and invasive assessment procedures, such as pelvic examinations. The classroom space is used for teaching advanced skills training of invasive procedures, such as intubation and central line insertion. There is a space set-up as an operating room for the nurse anesthesia program. Various types of simulators and task trainers are used for training.
These links are for faculty and staff only.
School of Nursing faculty are active in efforts to improve simulation education, research, and practice. Learn more about a handful of these studies.
An Innovative Educational Approach Integrating Simulation, Classroom, and Clinical Practice for Teaching Pediatric Nursing
Through the use of simulation, classroom lecture was matched with simulated patient scenarios. Concurrent with simulation, the instructors teaching students in the practice setting review the simulation materials for each week. In this way, clinical practice assignments are matched with simulation scenarios and lecture content.
Comparison of Virtual Simulation to Clinical Practice for Pre-licensure Nursing Students in Pediatrics
The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic has required a transition from in-person clinical practice to virtual. This study compares the standardized assessment test scores of pre-licensure nursing students who completed their pediatric clinical practicum in person for both the clinical and simulation practice settings versus virtually.
Assessing baccalaureate nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes of social determinants of health after a health equity simulation
For nursing students, competency in population health management involves acquiring knowledge and forming attitudes about the impact of the social determinants of health (SDoH) on health equity. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes about the SDoH and health equity following a focused simulation activity.
Use of an Emergency Preparedness Disaster Simulation With Undergraduate Nursing Students
This is a report of an educational strategy to prepare nursing students to respond to disasters. The strategy includes an emergency preparedness disaster simulation (EPDS) implemented in a school of nursing simulation lab using patient simulators, task trainer mannequins, and live actors.The EPDS immerses student groups into a “tornado ravaged assisted‐living facility” where the principles of emergency preparedness can be employed.
Since 1905, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (NHWSN) has evolved from a small training program in a fifty-bed hospital to an internationally renowned school that now enrolls more than 1,000 baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral students each year.
NHWSN is expanding its footprint and renovating 70,000 square feet in Decatur, Ga. to become the Emory Nursing Learning Center. The $20.6M expansion will include a state-of-the-art simulation and skills lab, which will provide experiential and immersive learning for students, and the Emory Nursing Experience, a program for continuing professional education in partnership with Emory Healthcare Nursing.
Support for this project will help ensure that NHWSN remains a leader in nursing education.
“Our vision for the Emory Nursing Learning Center is to help meet the complex, chaotic, and quickly changing needs of patients, families, clinical settings, and health care systems that rely on nurses who can make fast-but-effective decisions, contribute to teams, communicate well and mitigate errors,” Dean Linda McCauley said. “I’m very excited to see this cutting-edge facility take shape and expand our services beyond campus and traditional sites.”
Dr. Beth Ann Swan is a Professor, Clinical Track, Associate Dean and Vice President for Academic Practice Partnerships, and Executive Director of the Emory Learning Nursing Center at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University. Dr. Swan is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, past president of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN), and a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow. She is nationally and internationally known for her research in health care and nursing. She was an early leader in exploring the impact of changing health care delivery models on outcomes of care and has been a continuous advocate for the promotion of promoting ambulatory and primary care. Read more about Dr. Swan here.
Kim Fugate is the Simulation Operations Specialist for the Emory University Nursing Learning Center. In this role, Kim partners with Simulation Technicians, Simulation Nurse Educators, and faculty to develop, implement, operate, and participate in simulation activities to guarantee a high quality, safe, and consistent simulation experience in the ENLC. Kim assists in the management of the infrastructure to ensure student privacy, operational efficiency, limited downtime, and that learning objectives are met. She troubleshoots and resolves any technical and logistical issues; operates simulation capture system to ensure activities are videotaped. Provides first level repairs and preventative maintenance to simulation resources; ensures equipment and supplies are used and maintained properly. Plans, develops, and manufactures materials and techniques for executing moulage and task trainers in collaboration with key players to enhance the overall realism of the simulation activity.
Kim has been working in simulation for over 18 years at Emory University. Originally working with the Dept of Surgery E*STAR lab before moving to the School of Medicine Simulation lab where she served as Associate Director of ExCEL for the last 14 years. She is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE) and a Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist (CHSOS) and is a member of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. She is also an AHA certified instructor in both BLS and ACLS.
Sandra Rosedale comes to the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University with over 40 years of nursing experience. She has held a variety of roles in home care, inpatient, long-term care, assisted living and academia. Sandra is a Geriatric Clinical Nurse specialist and has always had a passion for working with the elderly. She received her BSN and MSN degrees from the University of California, San Francisco. During her academic career she has taught Fundamentals, Health Assessment, Patho/Pharmacology, Med Surg 1 and 2, Community Health, Aging Adult, and Leadership. Most of the courses had a lab component that also involved simulation. Sandra has over 15 years of simulation experience and finds it rewarding and a great safe place for the students to practice their nursing skills.
Sandra is originally from the upper Peninsula of Michigan. She has lived in Michigan, California, Tennessee, Florida, and Georgia. She has two sons and three grandchildren.
Terrence Jenkins is a Simulation Technician at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University. In this role, Terrence partners with the Simulation Operations Specialist, Simulation Nurse Educators, and faculty to develop, implement, operate, and participate in simulation activities to guarantee a high quality, safe, and consistent simulation experience in the simulation center.
Terrence has been working at the NHWSON for over four years. Originally working as an office assistant in the Operations Department before transitioning into the Simulation Technician role in 2018. Terrence is on track to become a Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist (CHSOS) and is a member of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.
Recreating reality in simulation spaces
More dynamic simulation technology as we know it today came from the airline industry. Pilots once sat in cardboard boxes to learn how to fly a plane safely but now they practice in high-tech cockpits fitted with virtually all the same controls as the real thing.
