- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

New Birthing Manikin Provides Lifelike Training for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Nursing Students

John Hill — Thu, 26 May 2022 17:27:26 +0000

The addition of a new birthing manikin simulator to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is ensuring that nursing students are getting the hands-on experience they need to care for patients in Arkansas. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock School of Nursing is now home to the Lucina AR Childbirth Simulator, which provides simulation experiences for all stages of delivery and rare emergency scenarios with incorporation of augmented and virtual reality components. Lucina is funded in part by a grant from the . “She is the most state-of-the-art birthing manikin in the world,” said Joanna Hall, director of the Center for Simulation Innovation. “Lucina feels and looks more real and helps increase the realness of the simulations for our students. She also comes with virtual and augmented reality features that bring more learning capabilities to our training simulations.” Lucina gives birth to her baby multiple times a day to give nursing students a first-hand look at deliveries and the emergency situations that can arise, such as preeclampsia-induced seizures, a breech birth, and fetal shoulder dystocia. In addition, Lucina’s baby can also be used in training scenarios involving newborns to six-month-old babies. “We work hard to prepare our students for the workforce from the jump,” Hall said. “We put out exceptionally qualified nursing students who are prepared to pass their licensure exams and be safe, skilled nurses who can take care of the people in our community.” Johni Beth Teague, an assistant professor of nursing and simulation faculty member, said the addition of Lucina has moved the simulation experience to the next level for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock nursing students. “This manikin is the highest fidelity manikin on the market. We utilize her for four different simulations throughout the day,” Teague said. “She not only provides a realistic birth experience, but she also can provide realistic complications from labor and the prepartum and postpartum period. The ability for her to also offer virtual and augmented reality takes the student’s experience down to the pathophysiological level to help them understand what is going on from a cellular level. Lucina functions on her own server, which allows for uninterrupted simulations due to technology glitches or server overload while other scenarios are running.” Students can get an inside look at the health situation using Lucina’s virtual and augmented reality features, which provides a 360-degree, holographic view of labor. Students can put on glasses that will allow them to see what contractions look like as they are happening in real time. In addition to seeing what is happening inside of the manikin, the virtual reality feature allows students to experience completely immersive virtual simulations. “The virtual reality component has a lot of potential in training simulations,” Hall said. “Once you put the goggles on, the experience is completely virtual. You feel like you can touch it, but it’s all playing out like a virtual reality game right in front of you. We can take those goggles anywhere, so there is a lot of potential going forward to help prepare our nursing students and to educate people working in the healthcare industry.” Sylvia Shaw, a nursing student from Oklahoma City, said the realistic simulation is something she’s never experienced prior to using Lucina. “This simulation helps prepare you for your nursing career because it gives you the most realistic version of what happens to the body in certain situations,” Shaw said. “It also is able to explain things in detail and show specific organs associated with the disease process. Being able to experience that enhances your understanding and knowledge beyond what can be comprehended from reading a textbook. That kind of experience is something you could never get with just a regular sim manikin.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is home to the second largest associate degree program in nursing in the state. Approximately 300 new students begin every summer, and every one of them learns necessary skills for transition to nursing practice in the Center for Simulation Innovation. “We have a fully functioning simulation hospital in the Pat Walker Center for Nursing Education Building,” Hall said. “We run simulations from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week in order to get all of our students through their simulations and get the hands-on experiences they need to learn new skills and graduate.” The Center for Simulation Innovation also provides a reliable alternative for nursing students who need to complete their training when clinical spots are not available. “During COVID, a lot of healthcare facilities closed their doors to students to protect their patients,” Hall said. “There were a lot of clinical practice gaps, and we did a lot of virtual clinics and simulations to get our students prepared for the workforce. That is one of the many benefits to a program like ours. While we have great relationships with hospitals and healthcare facilities in central Arkansas, we still plan to use more simulations and implement more simulation experiences for our nursing students going forward.”

Women to Watch at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock 2022: Joanna Hall

John Hill — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 13:28:38 +0000

In celebration of Women’s History Month, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is profiling women in leadership positions who are making a difference at the university and in the community. The next Woman to Watch at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock of 2022 is Joanna Hall, director of simulation for the Center for Simulation Innovation and assistant professor of nursing. Tell us about yourself and your background. I was born and raised in Arkansas and am now raising my little boy here too. I have deep roots at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, graduating with my Bachelor of Science in 2009, Associate of Science in Nursing in 2013, and Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2015. I recently finished my Master of Nursing Science at ��Vlog��ýMS in 2021. Prior to pursuing nursing education here at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, I worked as a cardiac nurse at CHI St. Vincent for five years. Though I found fulfillment in bedside nursing and cardiac care, I have found a true passion getting to work with the amazing nursing students that go through our School of Nursing. I have some of the most amazing family, friends, and coworkers around me. I enjoy the outdoors in Arkansas, especially when the weather is warm, and hope to buy my first kayak this summer. Lastly, and certainly not least, I am an avid Razorback fan. From football to basketball and everything in between, I love to call the Hogs! What is your current position and professional duties at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock? Nursing education has been quite the evolution for me here at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. I started as an instructor in 2017, worked my way to interim director of simulation in 2019, and now fill the role of director of simulation and assistant professor. I have been afforded the opportunity to run our Center for Simulation Innovation here in the Pat Walker Center for Nursing Education on campus for the last three years. From helping run day-to-day operations of our incredibly busy simulation center to organizing schedules and supplies to working on grant funding and research, I get to wear many hats. We have an exceptional group of simulation faculty and administrative support that enables me to foster a forward-thinking simulation curriculum, especially related to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusivity within our simulation center. What woman has inspired you the most and why? Though there have been so many women who have inspired me along my journey, the standout inspiration for me is my mom, Naomi Hall. She has been the epitome of resilience and strength throughout my life. Through plenty of life’s trials, she has consistently shown me how to persevere and be grateful for everything I have. She followed her dream and went back to school to become a massage therapist at 46. Against so many odds, she followed her heart, grew a successful business, and showed me the power of ambition and hard work. Marian Wright Edelman said, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” My amazing mother has set the most exquisitely real example of what a good human is in this life. How have you adapted to working in a world with COVID-19? COVID-19 has required quite the adjustment in nursing education. From completely online nursing classes, skills, clinical, and simulation in 2020 to modified COVID-related classroom, clinical, and simulation experiences now, the changes have been many. Nurses are as resilient as they come, and our nursing faculty, staff, and students have risen to the challenge over the last couple of years. How has the nursing field changed since the pandemic began? The important role that pre-licensure nursing programs and nursing employers play has become much more apparent in the last two years of COVID. Though Registered Nurse pay has increased (and it certainly needed to), so too has nurse burnout. Nursing is an extremely challenging profession even in the best, non-pandemic circumstances. COVID has only further complicated the healthcare environment, requiring our nurses to care for more complex patient populations and increasing competition with sign-on bonuses and travel assignments across the globe. Focusing on retention initiatives to improve nurse mental health and working conditions is essential. There are some alarming statistics out there saying that anywhere from 30 percent to 57 percent of new graduate registered nurses are leaving healthcare within the first two years of practice. We are doing everything we can here in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock School of Nursing to help prepare our graduates with all the tools they need to be successful long term in nursing. What’s next in your professional career? I am really enjoying my position as director of simulation currently. The support I have from administration and faculty regarding advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in simulation is beyond exciting. As I continue to grow in my role, I have found such a passion for enhancing the nursing student experience through incorporation of more culturally competent simulation scenarios and technology. It is my sincere hope that the work we are doing in CSI will help us develop more well-rounded humans and future nurses capable of taking care of our wonderfully diverse Central Arkansas community. So, what’s next? Helping facilitate change and continuing to advance human kindness and diversity in the future of our nursing workforce. What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders? My word for 2022 was perspective. I encourage you to appreciate the process and try to keep life in perspective. Hard work, passion, and a lot of laughter will get you farther in life than you know. Through the ups and downs, hold tight to the notion that you are exactly where you need to be. Learn from the downs, appreciate the ups, and never forget that you are worthy. As my absolute favorite author and podcaster Glennon Doyle says, “We can do hard things.” Life is certainly not always easy, but a little resilience goes a long way. When in doubt, remember that there is always a seat at the table for you. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Name something about yourself that most people would be surprised to learn. This does not come as a surprise to anyone that knows me, but to those who don’t, I am fascinated by sharks. I collect shark teeth and will watch literally any documentary about shark conservation. I have always lived in a landlocked state, which makes my interest a bit out of left field. Thanks to watching “Jaws” at a young age, I am hooked on sharks (pun intended)! Is there anything else you’d like to add? Go Trojans!

��Vlog��ý Little Rock School of Nursing Earns ANCC Accreditation to Provide Continuing Professional Development Courses for Nurses

John Hill — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 15:50:42 +0000

The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Commission on Accreditation has granted accreditation for nursing professional development to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Nursing. The School of Nursing’s Professional Development Center provides expert educational content delivered in multiple formats to meet the needs of healthcare professionals who are lifelong learners while fostering evidence-based practice for their patients. Accreditation from ANCC demonstrates ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s commitment to using evidence-based criteria when developing high-quality educational activities that promote the professional growth of nurses. With this accreditation, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock joins an influential global community of accredited organizations that offer continuing education for nurses in content areas such as clinical practice, leadership, certificate courses, quality improvement, and simulation with virtual reality options. “We are so proud to be accredited by the American Nurses Credential Center,” said Dr. Elizabeth Sloan Davidson, director of the School of Nursing at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “This organization represents the gold standard for continuing education for nurses. This accreditation signifies that ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is a leader in the region for offering learning opportunities for our students, alumni, and healthcare providers in Arkansas. We are so thankful to the Blue & You Foundation for the support that made this all possible.” The Professional Development Center in the School of Nursing is funded by a grant from the to support continuing education for healthcare professionals in Arkansas. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is now the third institution in Arkansas with ANCC accreditation including the University of Arkansas and Arkansas Children’s Hospital. The continuing education courses are a great fit for nursing students and nurses who want to complete their continuing education hours, learn new skills, and earn certifications. All of the Professional Development Center’s continuing education courses are currently offered online. In the future, the School of Nursing plans to offer some continuing education courses in a hybrid model utilizing the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Center for Simulation Innovation, a 20-bed state-of-the-art simulation hospital offering simulation-based clinical learning experiences in the Pat Walker Center for Nursing Education. “With our state-of-the-art simulation center, made possible in part by earlier funding from the Blue & You Foundation, we are in a prime position to offer unique opportunities for hands-on application of new skills that will then provide a safer and even better quality healthcare experience for Arkansans,” Davidson said. “This accreditation will promote the professional growth of nurses in Arkansas as well as providing continuing education that will improve patient outcomes, encourage community health, and promote patient safety.” The Professional Development Center also offers an opportunity for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock nursing students to graduate with new skills that will make them stand out in the workforce. “Our students can graduate already having skills, knowledge, and credentials that will give them a step-up in job readiness,” Davidson said. “Our ultimate goal is to graduate the best nurses that are the most equipped to take care of Arkansans.” The ANCC Accreditation Model is based on the original Donabedian framework of structure, process, and outcome measures to evaluate quality. The ANCC standards provide organizations with a structured, evidence-based framework to design and implement NCPD activities. The development of quality outcomes ensures that accredited organizations continuously evaluate processes and their impact on the professional development of nurses.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Receives $165k Grant for Center for Simulation Innovation

John Hill — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 15:35:46 +0000

The Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation has awarded the University of Arkansas at Little Rock a $165,000 grant for the Center for Simulation Innovation in the School of Nursing. “Our board is pleased to continue the working relationship with ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and greatly appreciates the educational opportunities for students,” said Mandy Macke, director of the Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation. “Adequate training is essential to delivering competent healthcare professionals. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is doing their part to address the nursing shortage in our state, and the Walker Foundation is proud to partner with them in providing the highest level of training possible.” The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Center for Simulation Innovation (CSI) provides nursing students with valuable real-world experience that prepares them for their future careers in the healthcare industry. Located on the first floor of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Pat Walker Center for Nursing Education, CSI is a 20-bed state-of-the-art simulation hospital offering simulation-based clinical learning experiences within a 9,500 square foot facility. “The School of Nursing is overwhelmed with gratitude for the generous donation made by the Walker Foundation to help increase our ability to offer state-of-the-art simulation experiences for nursing students and other interdisciplinary undertakings at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” said Dr. Sloan Davidson, director of the School of Nursing. This grant enables CSI upgrades that tie into the center’s five-year strategic plan pillars: sustainability, impact, standardization, and research. The funding will be used to upgrade the audiovisual system platform in the Center for Simulation Innovation. “The CAE Enterprise platform we will be upgrading to is a complete simulation center management platform that gives endless opportunities for research, inventory management, scheduling, and learner time and performance tracking,” said Joanna Rostad-Hall, CSI director. Additional funding will go towards converting three classrooms on the second floor of the nursing building to Zoom-capable classrooms. “This will allow students in the classrooms to watch live simulations as well as students in simulation to debrief and interact with their classmates upstairs in the classrooms,” Rostad-Hall said. “If further additional funding remains, we may be able to use some of that funding to secure the most state of the art birthing mannikin (Lucina AR).” CSI simulations include scenarios focused on a variety of concepts including communication, education, and patient health and safety. The simulations include caring for post-operative patients, treating critically ill patients, and the ever-popular birthing simulation. Since the School of Nursing comprises the largest department at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, CSI stays busy, typically running simulations five days a week, eight hours a day. “The Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation has changed the lives of Arkansans due to their lasting impact on institutions across the state,” said Michael Johnson, director of development and external relations for the College of Business, Health, and Human Services. “We appreciate their continued support for our nursing program at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and their ongoing support for education and healthcare in Arkansas.” In the upper right photo, senior nursing students prepare for transition to practice by participating in an Emergency Room simulation in the Center for Simulation Innovation. Photo by Ben Krain.

Center for Simulation Innovation provides ��Vlog��ý Little Rock nursing students with valuable educational experiences

John Hill — Tue, 11 May 2021 15:04:19 +0000

The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Center for Simulation Innovation (CSI) provides nursing students with valuable experience that prepares them for their future careers in the healthcare industry. Located on the first floor of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Pat Walker Center for Nursing Education, CSI is a 20-bed state-of-the-art simulation hospital offering simulation-based clinical learning experiences within a 9,500 square foot facility. Even in COVID times, CSI stays busy, typically running simulations five days a week, eight hours a day. Nursing students comprise the largest department at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “CSI is one of the most innovative simulation facilities in the South and provides simulation-based experiences to students and professionals,” said Josy Nduku, RN-BSN program coordinator. “The experiences are not just for nursing students or professional nurses.” Nursing students are not the only ones who find the CSI invaluable. “We have a lot of high school tours that come through our simulation center, and we let them go through the simulation-based escape rooms,” said Joanna Rostad-Hall, CSI interim director. “It’s a really innovative and unique recruitment opportunity.” The School of Nursing has also collaborated with MidSOUTH, the School of Social Work, and the Interpreter Education Program. Additionally, future collaborations with the Department of Theatre Arts look promising to allow theater students to practice their acting skills by playing the role of patients during simulations. “We also had a legitimate movie that was recently shot here that will soon be on TV. That was a huge deal,” Rostad-Hall said. “This is the direction that we are going. We are trying to open our simulation center doors to approach education and collaboration in a more innovative way.” The School of Nursing isn’t allowed to say much about the movie, but they plan to hold a watch party when it is released. Last summer, CSI completely overhauled its audiovisual system. “We are fortunate to be a part of a university that wholly sees the value of simulation in education. We now have a completely new AV set up with state of the art functionality that allows students to watch video playback of their simulation experiences,” Rostad-Hall said. “This has significantly enhanced our simulation debriefs.” If the School of Nursing receives a grant they’ve applied for, future plans for CSI include converting second floor space into flex classrooms “to allow us to bring simulation into the classroom.”

Senior nursing students in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock School of Nursing prepare for transition to practice by participating in an Emergency Room simulation in the Center for Simulation Innovation. Photos by Ben Krain.

“Instead of sitting in class and watching someone lecture for three hours, we may ask students to complete a simulation while the other students watch and debrief the simulation. It will really bring simulation in the classroom, encourage more critical thinking, and make learning more fun,” Rostad-Hall said. “The next generation NCLEX licensure exam is slated to come out next year. It will be focused more on application rather than textbook knowledge. We want to include more dynamic, immersive student experiences rather than static theory lectures.” CSI simulations include scenarios focused on a variety of concepts including communication, education, and patient health and safety. The simulations include caring for post-operative patients, treating critically ill patients, and the ever-popular birthing simulation. “We have a birthing simulator that gives birth routinely to a manikin baby several times a week,” Rostad-Hall said. “She’s a tired mama.” Among the simulation center’s five-year strategic plan is to purchase an even more advanced birthing manikin named Lucina with augmented reality features. “She’s the most state of the art birthing manikin available. Participants can wear augmented reality goggles, and you can see inside the stomach as the baby is being birthed,” Rostad-Hall said. “This manikin addition will aid in our pursuits to keep our exceptional School of Nursing as competitive as possible.” At the end of the spring semester, CSI provided a valuable learning opportunity for graduating nurses preparing to take the NCLEX exam this summer. “We ran a multi-patient simulation-based learning experience for our students who are about to graduate,” Rostad-Hall said. “We developed a riff on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ aptly called ‘Trojan’s Anatomy,’ It was essentially a three hour-long episode of the show where students had to care for and prioritize numerous patients coming into the Trojan Memorial Hospital. The students on campus got the opportunity to play the role of nurses and patients while other nursing students were able to watch and engage via Zoom. We are always trying to push the envelope here in CSI and believe learning opportunities like this very much align with our simulation center vision.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock celebrates half a century of quality nursing education

John Hill — Mon, 11 May 2020 14:14:39 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock nursing program is the most popular major on campus. It began offering first-semester nursing course credit to LPN/LPTN and Medical Corpsman in 1986, and in 2009, added paramedics to the transition program. In 2008, the RN-BSN program began the first cohort. A large percentage of degree-seeking nursing students are second-career seekers who come to the major by way of affiliated health care professions such as first responders and patient care specialists. What unites them, Bain says, is an aptitude for problem solving and critical thinking, a familiarity with health sciences, a grit and determination and deep-seated compassion, and a certain vision for the future — theirs, their family’s and the community’s. “I have been very impressed over the years with the students who have come out of our nursing program and transformed, not just their lives, but the lives of their children and grandchildren. We see generations of families.”

Nursing students hang out in front of the Pat Walker Center for Nursing Education at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Photo by Ben Krain.

All students are assigned a faculty mentor. Bain says good students know when they need help, and the university makes a licensed social worker available and a school emergency fund for those who need it. The program itself is blessed to receive funding in the form of program support and scholarships from partners such as , and the . “We undergird our student population with that support because sometimes it’s the difference between them staying in the nursing program or not.”

Quality Nursing Over Decades

Central Arkansas’s density of care facilities tasks universities to produce regular batteries of qualified nurses and BSNs. Even before the Center for Simulation Innovation, before the transition offerings and the bachelor’s degree schedule for working nurses, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s program was meeting the needs of central Arkansas clinics, operating rooms and doctors offices and building a reputation for “strong practitioners,” Bain says. “We were very small at first, going to far fewer agencies for clinical experience than today, but from the beginning, we graduated quality nurses who could pass the national licensure exams and go right into the workplace.”

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

New Birthing Manikin Provides Lifelike Training for ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Nursing Students

Women to Watch at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock 2022: Joanna Hall

����Vlog��ý Little Rock School of Nursing Earns ANCC Accreditation to Provide Continuing Professional Development Courses for Nurses

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Receives $165k Grant for Center for Simulation Innovation

Center for Simulation Innovation provides ����Vlog��ý Little Rock nursing students with valuable educational experiences