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Briggs Foundation funds student nurse training By Deborah Brandt Johnson
Verna Saleski (left), coordinator of the nursing program at Penn State Worthington Scranton, discusses the merits of SimMan, a full-body patient simulator, with Linda Chorba (center) and Jerry Scott, students enrolled in the nursing program. Photo by Penn State Worthington Scranton	It breathes, has a pulse and suffers from occasional asthma attacks. SimMan does practically everything except get up and walk away.   Penn State Worthington Scranton has received $30,000 in funding from the Margaret Briggs Foundation to assist in purchasing a state-of-the-art, full-body patient simulator, SimMan, for its Nursing Department. The cost of the project is more than $48,000, with additional funding being provided by the campus and private donations.   Students enrolled in the baccalaureate and associate degree programs in nursing will gain clinical experience through the use of SimMan, a portable, highly complex device that is as close to a real human being as a nursing student can achieve for learning and practicing medical procedures.   Penn State is the first institution of higher education in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties to offer SimMan for nursing instruction. The simulator also will be made available on a regular basis for clinical instruction at the University of Scranton and Marywood University.   “The need for quality health-care professionals has never been greater,” William Calpin Jr., a presentative of the Margaret Briggs Foundation, said. “Penn State Worthington Scranton, Marywood University and the University of Scranton provide a valuable community service in training hundreds of skilled nurses annually. This new computerized instructional device is designed to give students the highest level of preparedness available before entering an actual nursing situation. This is the optimal situation for both the students and the health-care facilities where they will be gaining their first on-the-job experiences.”   SimMan is being used to present beginning nursing students with clinical simulations that will prepare them for actively practicing in acute-care settings. Some of the functions of SimMan are breathing simulation and vital sign measurement, which are enhanced to provide students with immediate verbal feedback regarding corrections of performance procedure. Cardiac arrest, asthmatic conditions and other important medical situations are addressed through SimMan instruction.   “My colleagues and I are extremely grateful for the support of the Margaret Briggs Foundation,” Verna Saleski, Penn State Worthington Scranton nursing program coordinator, said. “SimMan is an extremely important addition to our area nursing programs. By using this simulated patient in classes, our students will be even better prepared and more confident as they enter actual health-care settings and encounter real-life situations.”