In MSU’s new nursing lab, patients talk, give birth and breathe — but they’re not real
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DENVER — In pediatric room number 7, a boy named Derek laid half upright in a patient bed, his face in pain after experiencing a fall the night before.
“I want to go home,” he said to a nurse who asked him if he liked it in the hospital.
Derek could blink and breathe and had sounds coming from his belly.
But Derek wasn’t a real human. He was a high-functioning mannequin (“manikin” in health care industry speak) operated by computers at the Metropolitan State University (MSU) of Denver’s new state-of-the-art Skills and Simulation Lab, which opened in late August.
The university received $10 million in state funding during the 2021-2022 legislative session to develop the facility, which had previously been a couple of classrooms, old offices and storage areas used to train nursing students.
Now the lab has eight patient rooms occupied by manikins of various ages; an ambulance bay with an outfitted ambulance; two large classrooms with 18 patient beds; and an apartment area for home healthcare training.
The goals for the nursing department are two-fold: to improve the student experience so nursing students are more prepared for the real, often unpredictable world of healthcare, and to increase enrollment at the school.
Like many healthcare professions, the demand for registered nurses is projected to exceed demand in the coming years. By 2035, it’s projected Colorado will have 59,330 nurses — a 5% shortage from projected demand, according to the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis.
But many nursing programs across the nation are strapped for resources. According to a study by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), nursing schools turned away thousands of qualified applicants in 2022 due largely to a shortage of faculty and clinical training sites. More than 78,000 qualified applications were not accepted at schools of nursing nationwide, the study found.
“The primary barriers to accepting all qualified students at nursing schools continue to be insufficient clinical placement sites, faculty, preceptors, and classroom space, as well as budget cuts,” the study stated.
MSU Denver turns away 35-40% of applicants each year across all departments, and space is one of several reasons for it. The new lab will allow the nursing program to grow, administrators said.
“We would not have been able to increase enrollment without this space,” said Jenny Allert, chair of the school’s nursing department.
The four-year nursing program admits 90 students per year — and has a total enrollment of 173 students.
With the new lab, they hope to increase enrollment to 120-140 students per year, a 33-to-55% increase. To make that change, the school had to submit a request to the state’s Board of Nursing and will hear back in January if their request is approved.
Located on the second floor of the university’s West Classroom building, a building that shows its age, the new lab boasts a standard, full-functioning 18,000 square-foot simulated hospital.
“It feels very real. It feels like anyone will actually come through the door screaming for help,” said Jimena Malta Zuniga, 21, a nursing student who hopes to specialize in oncology.
The floors and walls are clean and sterile, with fluorescent lighting overhead, hand sanitizer dispensers throughout and boxes of nitrile blue gloves hanging from the walls.
There’s a nursing station at the entrance and each of the eight patient rooms are furnished with typical hospital items such as a television, electric hospital cot, oxygen, and vital sign monitors.
“Getting students clinical experiences is a challenge,” said Allert. “There is only so many hospitals and only so many sites.”
At the new lab, the hours nursing students spend there will count towards clinical hours needed for licensure, she said.
Room number 2, a labor and delivery room near the entrance to the lab, features a pregnant manikin who can give birth to a baby.
Nursing students often split up the shift with some taking care of “mom,” and others taking care of “baby.”
“I've had lots of students say, ‘I think I would have just been panicked the first time I saw birth if I had not had the opportunity to practice,” Allert said.
“We actually often have our lactation certificate students who are from the nutrition program come over and work on that simulation with my students.”
One perk of the new lab, which is double in size than the previous one, is it can foster interdisciplinary training. Students studying speech language pathology, nutrition and social work all work in tandem with the nursing students.
“That's how they really function in the hospitals. We don't work in silos. We work together,” said Allert.
The day Rocky Mountain PBS visited the lab, nursing student Zuniga was practicing on an older-age male manikin named Jack. Jack, donning spectacles and a Superman t-shirt, had a chiseled jawline and a gray head of hair.
The simulation technician was out for the afternoon, so Mary Tucker, director of the simulation and skills lab, posed as the patient, speaking in a low voice and peppering Zuniga with questions and concerns.
Zuniga did a head to-toe physical assessment on Jack. She checked his vital signs and blood pressure, flushed his IV and addressed his pain with Tylenol.
“You don't know what they will say to you,” Zuniga said. “You have to look to your mind for a solution.”
The most high-tech manikins at the lab — known in the industry as “high-fidelity manikins” — can perform in up to 30 different scenarios. The manikins are pre-programmed with scripts, but can be adjusted in real-time with the help of a simulator technician or faculty in a control room.
The manikins have chests that expand and can breathe; they have variable heart rates and tones; and measurable blood pressure.
They cost anywhere from $3,000 for a low-tech infant to $120,000 for a high-tech adult – plus licensing fees.
Manikins allow students to “make mistakes and learn from their mistakes,” said Allert.
Phase 2 of MSU’s nursing school changes involves building a 70,000 square foot tower facility financed from a $10 million donation from Gina and Frank Day, a couple who built a successful business in the hospitality and restaurant industry.
95% of MSU Denver students are state residents and 80% remain in Colorado after graduation.
“We are directly affecting the workforce in Colorado,” said Allert. “By us being able to increase our enrollment, we can help the workforce and the nursing care here in Colorado.”