Something exciting is coming to City of Bristol College; something that will revolutionise the way that our health students learn and gain vital skills and experience.
Our brand-new Clinical Skills Room is nearing the end of completion, having been under intense development since the beginning of the year.
At the end of March, a selected audience were the lucky few to gain the first insight into what the Clinical Skills Room boasts. This session was part of an introduction to the room that is being funded by our Strategic Development Fund; a time when our guests were given the chance to experience the room whilst still under development.
For those of us who have not yet managed to grab a sneak peek into the ever-evolving immersive room and are curious as to what resources are in store for students, allow us to give you a taster:
In the room you’ll find a geriatric manikin that echoes a real-life patient and appears to be living, breathing and even blinking. You can take the pulse, set up an IV and cannulate. The manikin even possesses the ability to ‘talk’ or call out by a simple tap on an accompanying tablet or lecturer using the headphones from another room for live interactions from the manikin. It’s features like this that will truly teach students how to deal with difficult situations when it comes to patient care.
More manikins representative of varying ages can be found in the room, a recent addition being a paediatric model that can simulate various ailments including the live signs and symptoms of an asthma attack and CPR manikins that are linked tablets, showing you stats in real-time when you’re performing CPR.
At the other end of the scale, a complex geriatric suit allows students to experience what it’s like to be in the later stages of life and the subsequent challenges that can be presented with this. We even have pairs of glasses that allow you to experience life through the eyes of someone with differing eyesight challenges and conditions.
Taking a leap into the virtual world now, we have a number of VR headsets that allow you to experience a wealth of situations including what it’s like to have schizophrenia or a learning disability. The headsets also present a more biological-focused approach, letting you explore the internals of organs such as the liver and the heart, teaching a solid biological understanding of the human body.
Amongst other resources you’ll find a simulation suit that allows learners to practice abdominal thrusts for first aid. We have models to support skin integrity care and awareness of pressure injuries as well as models to support stoma care, wound care and catheterisation. A faux ‘drug cupboard’ promotes effective use of controlled drug registers and medicinal management so that our learners are prepared to enter the industry as safe practitioners.
It’s hard to believe that the room is still in development, meaning that even more equipment and invaluable resources will be in place and ready to be utilised when we reveal the grand opening of the room in its entirety. Make sure to watch this space.
The objective of the room is simple, to make a difference every single day and to enrich the studies of as many health-focused students as possible, giving them an experience as close to a real-world scenario as you can get.
The Clinical Skills Room forms part of our ongoing plans to work with employers to shape our health curriculum whilst responding accordingly to the Local Skills Improvement Plan findings.
