On May 9, as hundreds of University of Miami nursing students were preparing to swap their hospital scrubs for graduation regalia, a group of South Florida high school students was trying the nursing profession on for size during the second annual “A Day in the Life of a Nursing Student,” an event hosted by UM’s School of Nursing and Health Studies and Simulation Hospital Advancing Research and Education (S.H.A.R.E.®).
“A Day in the Life of a Nursing Student” was created last year by Zuzer Calero, S.H.A.R.E.’s executive director of business operations, as a way to increase community engagement. “This event allows high schoolers interested in pursuing a degree in health care-related fields who will soon start the college application process to experience what their school days would consist of if accepted into our program,” said Calero.
As students from Southwest Miami and Westland Hialeah senior high schools arrived for this year’s event, they were welcomed with a flurry of activities, transforming what would have been a quiet summer day between semesters at SONHS into a day filled with liveliness and fun. First, Calero introduced students to the 5-story simulation hospital. Then, Dr. Ruth Everett-Thomas, Associate Dean for Simulation Programs, presented short videos demonstrating the importance of simulation education at SONHS and S.H.A.R.E.’s mission to promote infection control by preparing nurses to better protect their patients. Hospital-acquired infections are a leading cause of morbidity in the United States, explained Dr. Everett-Thomas.
From there, the students were split into five small groups and escorted through various activity stations coordinated and staffed by simulation educators Michelle Arrojo, D.N.P. ’18, Jacqueline Lopez, Michelle Osso, and Gloria Trujillo; simulation technologist Didier Torres; and simulation faculty Drs. Yui Matsuda and Everett-Thomas.
The students got a glimpse into basic nursing skills that would be built upon in undergraduate nursing programs like the one at SONHS. Dr. Matsuda led students in identifying medical errors in an ICU setting, an activity designed to reinforce the importance of patient safety. Using a mid-fidelity simulant, Dr. Arrojo had participants practice taking vital signs, teaching them to distinguish normal and abnormal results. Lopez and Osso coordinated a medically themed “escape room” for the students, and taught them how to administer EpiPens to manage severe allergic reactions. Dr. Everett-Thomas discussed proper CPR/automated external defibrillator techniques and demonstrated on a simulant how to respond to a choking incident.
During a lesson in head-to-toe health assessments, overseen by Trujillo, staff in the control room simulated planned episodes of vomiting, seizure, cardiac arrest and more in the high-fidelity simulant “patients,” intensifying the experience. At first glance, the students found the hands-on activity amusing, their laughs being heard from another room the first time they interacted with a simulator. But, as fascinating as they found watching the simulator mimic medical emergencies, the students also understood the importance of the exercise, asking questions about how and why things were being done and inquiring about other procedures. As they moved to their next “Day in the Life” station, the students could be heard commenting that this activity offered good preparation for patient care and said they could see why simulation was such a successful learning tool for nursing.
The day-long experience inspired even greater curiosity about what being a student at SONHS might entail. The students were eager learners about both nursing and simulation. They asked how the hospital functions and helps students, for example. They wanted to know everything a simulation educator does and how best to translate procedures learned in simulation to the clinical setting.
The S.H.A.R.E. team was excited to work with these aspiring nursing students who soon could be applying to the University of Miami, and the high schoolers seemed thrilled to get their hands on the state-of-the-art technology S.H.A.R.E. offers. All in all, it was a day of camaraderie, laughter, and exploration, as the future of SOHNS walked its halls for the first—and hopefully not the last—time.
