Inside the Nursing Lab at Liberty University

Would you want to be treated by a nurse who has yet to work in a real-world environment?

Probably not.

That’s why Liberty University created a high-tech “simulation lab” for its nursing students. “Our students live in the lab,” says Kathryn Miller, the registered nurse who runs it. “Think of military or aeronautics simulation. It’s not good enough to score a 4.0 on a test. They need hands-on experience. And so do nurses.”

Liberty’s simulation lab gives the school’s nursing students clinical experience in a safe environment. Or, as Miller says, “It takes them from book knowledge to bedside wisdom.”

The lab is centered around artificial “patients” who look lifelike and act lifelike.

“These high-tech mannequins breathe,” Miller says. “They have a pulse, heart sounds, and lung sounds. And they can wheeze and cough and bleed and even vomit.” (Sound only, thankfully!) One mannequin, named “Noelle,” is a mom who “gives birth” right there in the lab. Another, “Hal,” is a newborn baby that can be picked up and held.

A simulated patient programmed to mimic a particular illness might say something to the student like, “I can’t catch my breath — help me!” Once a nursing student responds with the right treatment, the patient might tell them, “Thanks, that’s better.”

While students work with these simulators, Miller watches them from behind a two-way mirror.

Students can also hone their skills on their own, by playing a virtual-reality game on a computer. “The computer screen turns into a virtual-reality hospital room,” Miller explains. “They can practice at their own pace to learn how to do things like properly position patients, start IV’s, and choose medications.”

Liberty University has over 400 students in its nursing program. Freshman aren’t included in that number, since they’re considered “pre-nursing” students as they’re taking their first-year science courses like anatomy and physiology.

While many nursing schools don’t allow students to actually work in hospitals until their junior year, students in Liberty’s nursing program get into local hospitals starting in their first semester. Miller says the school strives to make its training as hands-on as possible.

Different from other programs, Liberty also offers students who want to go into critical care nursing a “critical care certificate” program, which allows them to get advanced certifications such as ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) and PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support).

Whatever type of nursing they train for, Liberty students are immersed in the use of technology.

“Nursing has become very technology-based,” Miller says, “so technology is integrated across all of our curriculum. We’re blessed in that all of our technology is state-of-the-art.”