Highland Community College Names Softball Coaches for the 2021-22 Season
Highland Community College is pleased to announce that Gregory Cary has been named the new Head... Read More
Highland Nursing Program Displays Capabilities
published October 25, 2012Highland Nursing Program Displays Capabilities
The nursing program at the Highland Community College Technical Center showed the public some of its teaching/learning capabilities at the Atchison Hospital Health Fair on Saturday, October 13. Nursing instructors Janean Bowen and Cynthia Jacobson and students took “Bart,” one of the family of patient simulators the nursing program utilizes, to meet and greet the public. In addition, the Practical Nursing (PN) students took blood pressures for attendees and took the opportunity to teach some young visitors about heart sounds with Bart’s help. PN students recently conducted a flu shot clinic and will host a Community Blood drive on December 5th at the Technical Center location. Registered Nursing (RN) students will sponsor a Community Blood Drive in the spring and service projects in local communities as part of their program.
A longtime provider of Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) graduates for the area health care work force, the Nursing Program at the College recently expanded to providing a bridge for those LPN’s to become Registered Nurses (RN’s). The LPN to RN Completion Program is now well established with a full roster of students. Both the LPN and the RN Programs are approved by the Kansas State Board of Nursing, Kansas Board of Regents, and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Bart is just one of the growing number of patient simulators which are used for part of the training for the College’s LPN and RN programs. The nursing instructors control the computer-run simulators to provide unique learning opportunities for students in a safe environment since the instructors can make the simulators mimic actual patient symptoms such as short of breath, sweats, bleeding, and yes, throwing up. By using patient simulators such as Bart, the Nursing instructors can schedule clinical experiences with more flexibility. Bart is joined by other patient simulators: Granddad, Maggie, Marge, Anne, Billie, and the newest addition, Noelle, a simulator who delivers a baby. This technology is really impressive and the Health Fair provided an ideal opportunity to show the public just how effective the simulators can be for teaching nursing skills.
