Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2007 / April / 13 / Patient simulator is newest tool in nursing education at UBC Okanagan

Patient simulator is newest tool in nursing education at UBC Okanagan

April 13, 2007

UBC Okanagan nursing student Liana Klohn listens to chest sounds produced by Stan, the School of Nursing's new Human Patient Simulator.

UBC Okanagan nursing student Liana Klohn listens to chest sounds produced by Stan, the School of Nursing's new Human Patient Simulator.

Call him Stan the man, but don’t call him a mannequin. The newest tool in nursing education at UBC Okanagan is a complex, computerized human patient simulator (HPS) — a high-tech human replica nicknamed Stan (for “Standard Man”) who not only blinks, speaks and breathes, he responds like a real person to drugs and other treatment.

“This is the next big step in preparing nursing graduates who are ready for today’s increasingly complex health care settings,” says Dr. Joan Bottorff, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Development, during an announcement at UBC Okanagan Friday morning.It’s the first HPS system of its kind in the Okanagan and among the most advanced simulators in Canada. Stan can simulate a male or female patient, has a heartbeat and a pulse that can be checked just about anywhere and, depending on the instructor’s settings, accurately mirrors human responses to many procedures such as intravenous medication, cardiopulmonary resuscitation — even the insertion of a catheter or chest tube.

Although it doesn’t replace hands-on clinical experience for nursing students, the human patient simulator does offer a risk-free opportunity for students to experience procedures and medical conditions that might not present themselves during a student’s clinical practicum in a hospital.

“The patient’s status changes in real time,” says Dr. Joan Bassett-Smith, Director of the School of Nursing. “With this simulator, nursing students can work through scenarios in a safe environment.”

Nursing Professor Marjorie Wright explains that sessions with the simulator are recorded on video, allowing students to review what they’ve done.

“That’s where a lot of the learning takes place,” says Wright, noting that the system can model a great variety of patients – whether it’s male, female, young or elderly. “Each scenario takes about two hours, and no two scenarios ever have the same outcome,” she says.

The system cost approximately $110,000 including a computerized curriculum. It was purchased with lab equipment funds allocated to the School of Nursing when it became part of UBC Okanagan.

Additional simulators, including the equally sophisticated and similarly priced baby model, would be welcome, says Bassett-Smith. “We’ll have 400 students trying to get access to this one,” she says, “so we are already looking ahead to acquiring a second human patient simulator.”

— 30 —

Media Contact

Bud Mortenson
Director
University Relations

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250-807-9255
E-mail: bud.mortenson@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Release
More content from: Uncategorized

Trending Stories

  • Work Study opens new doors for undergraduates
  • Finding new life for plastic waste
  • Strengthening Indigenous community through research
  • Safeguarding water quality
  • Pushing the boundaries of spinal cord research
All Stories
Contact Media Relations

About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

TikTok icon Linkedin icon

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility