Norwalk Community College has partnered with the Waveny LifeCare Network of New Canaan to provide hands-on simulation training for Waveny”™s nurses, specifically those who care for the Center”™s short-term rehab patients.
The partnership was formed to meet the needs of an increasingly acute patient population and reduce hospital readmissions, according to Mary Di Paola, RN, Waveny”™s director of nursing.
“Many of the joint replacement cases who in years past would have come to the Care Center as short-term rehab patients are now going directly home with home care services,” she said. “It”™s those patients who require greater care due to their complex co-morbidities who we now see in inpatient rehabilitation, using our interdisciplinary team to manage their recovery. That”™s why it”™s vitally important for our nursing team to be prepared to care for these patients with the highest quality of (training in) nursing, early identification, communication and interventions to reduce complications and the need for hospital readmission.”
Waveny nurses will train in the college”™s simulation center. Established in 2011 with support from Greenwich, Norwalk and Stamford hospitals, the center allows health care students and community professionals across disciplines to practice skills in medical procedures, using computerized patient mannequins to portray patient situations. Educators guide students through scenarios that replicate real-life situations students may encounter as health care clinicians. NCC has ten full-body simulation mannequins that mimic many human functions, including breathing, talking and coughing. The students diagnose health issues and perform therapies such as intravenous therapy and injections.
“As both a nurse and a nursing supervisor who oversees other clinicians, this experience reinforced my assessment skills, deepened my confidence and gave me a feeling of empowerment,” said Mariola Germaine, RN, nursing supervisor and one of Waveny”™s participants in the hands-on training. “The training lab”™s robot-mannequin provided us with a wonderfully interactive experience, where practice was allowed to make perfect.”
The training is in tandem with education on the INTERACT program designed to lower readmission rates, improve care transitions, enhance communication, positive clinical outcomes and operational success.
According to Di Paola, this component of the program will train nurses to better identify the early signs of change in a patient”™s condition and how to evaluate and review each patient”™s care plan.
Germaine is already hailing the program as a success.
“This type of groundbreaking classroom training is taking our profession of nursing to new heights,” she said.
