Nursing kid joins SUNY Orange ‘faculty'

MIDDLETOWN — Practical, “life-like” experience rests at the heart of all nursing curriculums, and SUNY Orange has again taken measures to assure its students are afforded the most advanced pediatric care training tool available, through the addition of Nursing Kid to the college’s nursing program. Nursing Kid, also known as “Sim Kid,” is a training manikin that realistically represents a 6-year-old child. An ideal simulator for clinical training, it allows students to experience a variety of the in-patient pediatric situations they might later encounter. Thanks to the addition of this latest training mechanism, SUNY Orange students will be better prepared to enter the workforce. Representatives from the manikin’s manufacturer, Laerdal, provided SUNY Orange faculty with a full-scale Nursing Kid demonstration on Oct. 16. While the Nursing Department has had the manikin for much of the semester, it is expected to be fully integrated into the curriculum in the coming weeks. Nursing Kid becomes the third member of SUNY Orange’s ever-growing family of manikins, joining his sibling, the college’s first “Sim Kid,” and “Sim Man.” On Nov. 14, the college will hold a baby shower to demonstrate the training skills afforded by “Sim Baby.” “‘Sim Kid’ represents the next generation of patient training manikins,” says Pat Slesinski, chair of SUNY Orange’s nursing department. “This is a great addition to our program. We are continually looking to create a state-of-the-art curriculum so that we can best prepare our students for the workforce.” The manikin allows faculty members to utilize pre-programmed training scenarios or create individualized routines, while students can target the key skills necessary to care for and manage a wide variety of pediatric patients and situations. Wound assessment and care, first aid and child abuse training are just a few of the areas in which the manikin helps students perfect their skills. Among Nursing Kid’s features are a head (with anatomical landmarks), trachea, and esophagus, along with simulated lungs and stomach, which allow students to practice many procedures. The doll also provides for the diagnosis of normal and abnormal breathing, heart and bowel sounds. In addition, bilateral deltoid, bilateral thigh and gluteal intramuscular injections can be administered to the manikin, and it boasts an articulating arm that reproduces “life-like” scenarios for intravenous injections, as well as site care and maintenance. The Nursing Kid was donated to SUNY Orange by John Luedke of the WEL Foundation. For more information on the SUNY Orange nursing program, call 845-341-4107.