Nurse Orientation at Banner Simulation Medical Center

By Margery Weinstein

In response to a Nursing Advisory survey indicating that only 10 percent of hospital nurse executives feel that newly graduated nurses are fully prepared to provide safe patient care, and another study showing the average new nurse lacks the clinical skills and judgment required to handle a typical expected hospital caseload, Banner Health developed the Banner Simulation Medical Center (BSimMC).

Located in Mesa, AZ, BSimMC was designed to help new nurses develop critical thinking and practice skills. Here are the key elements that make it a success:

• It is a complete simulated hospital with a full complement of simulated patients: All specialized units are fitted with simulated medical gases, computer charting stations, ventilators, defibrillators, and feeding and infusion pumps—equipment necessary for highly technical patient care.
• The “patients” are 71 high and moderate-fidelity mannequins: babies, children, men, and women of various ages and genders. In this environment, new nurses can safely learn and practice caring for multiple patients with multiple problems—very much like the ones they will encounter in a real hospital. 
• To ensure the highest-level quality of training for patient safety, the BSimMC teaching staff has developed both didactic curricula and scenarios for multiple disease states and conditions based on National Patient Safety Goals and CMS Guidelines.
• The BSimMC curricula blend classroom training with experiential practice; competency testing is both written and experiential. Staff programs clinical scenarios into the high-fidelity mannequins, and “treating” these “patients” requires students to use critical thinking and procedural knowledge.
• In addition to caring for the patients’ immediate clinical needs, the BSimMC helps nurses learn to communicate complex concepts skillfully, document accurately, and manage time wisely.
• Weighted checklists and training to the most common errors are two innovative learning modalities integrated into BSimMC curricula. Data show simulating clinical situations in this way results in a threefold increase in learning over traditional learning approaches at other facilities.
• Upon “graduation” from BSimMC, each nurse’s competency scores are aggregated into a comprehensive database and integrated into Banner’s Learning Management System for an ongoing record of performances and competencies in his/her learning journey and career pathway.

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