Becoming a skilled nurse takes a great deal of practice. Thanks to a grant from the Salina Regional Health Foundation (SRHF), Nursing Education students will be able to practice a multitude of scenarios on a high-tech patient: METI-MAN.
According to Dr. Linda Adams-Wendling, Chair/Director of the KWU Nursing Education Program, Kansas Wesleyan University has received an $81,779 grant from SRHF for the purchase of METI-MAN, a high fidelity simulator that will allow multiple learning objectives to be taught to Nursing students in a realistic clinical environment.
Adams-Wendling said that the program’s current patient simulator – SIM MAN – is malfunctioning, the technology is no longer current, and parts for the simulator are no longer manufactured. At the time it was purchased in the 2002-2003 academic year, SIM MAN was state-of-the-art and only the third such simulator purchased in the state. The purchase of SIM MAN also was made possible because of a generous grant from SRHF.
“We are glad we can help support the education of nurses at Kansas Wesleyan,” said Tom Martin, SRHF Executive Director. “We rely a great deal on Kansas Wesleyan to supply Salina Regional Health Center with quality, well-trained nurses.”
Since 2003, the SRHF has contributed more than $630,000 to the KWU Nursing Education program for various initiatives, including nursing instructors’ continuing education, lab mannequins, curriculum support, the establishment of KWU’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program, annual nursing scholarships, SIM MAN, and now, METI MAN.
Currently, Salina Regional has a simulator lab that can be used by KWU students, however, it is used more for group teaching, Martin said.
“The simulator we just funded will be located on the Kansas Wesleyan campus and will be used for one-on-one training of students,” he added.
Martin explained that the grant request for METI-MAN was approved with the stipulation that students in the University of Kansas School of Medicine program in Salina also be able to use the simulator. A use agreement between the two universities has been approved, Adams-Wendling said.