NMSU Nursing Simulation Center

The Nursing Simulation Center has two locations, one in Las Cruces main campus in the College of Health and Social Services and the other with our partnering institution, Grants Community College, in Grants, New Mexico.

The simulation center has two functions. The first is to teach nursing skills to those students enrolled in nursing courses such as Principles of Nursing Practice to Maternal Child and Pediatrics. The second is to actively engage students in the nursing process through simulated patient-care scenarios that increase their understanding of the role of the nurse.

Highlights of the Simulation Center

Simulation Center Recording Studio

Recording Student Nursing Scenarios using Mediasite

• The simulation center has four simulation mannequins, three adults and one infant. Each are programmed through a computer and can be used to simulate those clinical experiences that students may not always see in actual clinical rotations. There is also a birthing mother that delivers on an actual birthing bed. Students also have access to a simulated fetal heart tone monitor.
• Another highlight is the Virtual IV (intervenous simulated computer program) that allows students to gain practice in IV insertion techniques. Also, the VentroScope allows students to hear abnormal and normal heart, lung, and bowel sounds.
• Other features to our simulation center include an academic electronic health record system called Neehr Perfect that students and faculty use to document patient care. Simulated scenarios are used in conjunction with Jean Giddens' In The Neighborhood. This application is used across the curriculum in the simulation center.
• Students who participate in simulated scenarios are video recorded for assessment and evaluation within our state of the art recording system using Mediasite video recording and video streaming equipment. Students can view their recorded scenarios to assist with the learning process and faculty provide positive feedback to guide students in the right direction. Participating in these scenarios help students gain self-confidence and also develop critical reasoning skills.
• The simulation center is also excited to offer IRIS Telehealth system. This system allows for two way video communication with remote sites located in rural areas of the state to allow for health care delivery in remote locations.

Additional Resources and Information

Additional equipment includes wound dressing carts, medication carts, a crash cart, and laundry carts that are all exactly like those seen in health care settings. Other equipment includes the vitalsim mannequins with sound trainer technology used to perform assessments.

In addition, there is a four-bed lab, a six-bed lab, and a seven-bed lab that are all equipped with brand new hospital beds, bedside tables, suction, simulated oxygen and medical gas. Each station has fully working blood pressure cuffs, and instruments for eye and ear assessments. There are also two stretchers available similar to those used in an emergency department or for transporting to and from an operating room.

The labs also have "Open Lab" hours on a weekly basis so that students may come in and practice their skills under the direction of the Skills Lab Coordinator who is also a registered nurse. Students working on their nursing skills within the labs are provided with the necessary supplies and equipment to complete assignments and projects during visits. Lab hours are available throughout the semester. Check with the Skills Lab Coordinator for more details.

Current students can visit the Nursing Skills Lab Student Support site to view the semester calendar for open lab hours and links to orientation information and also communicate with other nursing students via the communication board and chat tool.

It is our goal to create an environment that is very similar to what our students will see when they go out to health care facilities to complete their clinical hours. Our skills lab coordinator is a practicing nurse who is available to assist students with the lab technology and equipment. The faculty who teach in these labs remain current on their skills and many are also practiciing nurses within the community.

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