Walgreen Family Virtual Hospital
The Walgreen Family Virtual Hospital, located on the 3rd floor of the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing on the Health Sciences Campus, is a 7,000-square-foot-facility with six state-of-the-art simulation bays, each complemented by a control room and debriefing room. The mannequins that are available include:
- 3 adult Laerdal SimMan 3Gs
- 1 Laerdal SimBaby™
- 1 Laerdal SimJunior® (toddler)
- 1 Gaumard Noelle® and Baby Hal® (birthing mother and newborn)
All levels of learners come to the Walgreen Family Virtual Hospital including nursing and medical students, residents, and staff nursing. High-fidelity simulation promotes patient safety through risk-free learning, especially when done inter-professionally.
Interprofessional Education Using Simulation
The Center for Simulation Education is dedicated to promoting interprofessional education through the use of simulation. A unique project was developed in 2012 by Linda Bensfield, RN, MSN, Director of Simulation for the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, and Trent Reed, DO, Director of Simulation for the Stritch School of Medicine. Their collaborative effort established a new curricular offering for both schools. Fourth year medical students and accelerated nursing students are brought together each month for an interprofessional session where they discuss Team STEPPS® principles and then apply those principles using two simulated cases in the Walgreen Virtual Hospital. Both the nursing and medical students have found these sessions to be very valuable. Some of their comments include:
"I thought this simulation was a good experience for both the nursing and medical students because it helped me realize how we all need to interact in the future together."
"I think it would be helpful to have this type of medical/nursing interaction more often."
