By Rebecca Wyatt, OU Web Writer

The School of Nursing held a baby shower and open house Feb. 14 to welcome two new members of the Sim family — Noelle, a simulator that gives birth, and SimBaby, a simulator that provides training for infant trauma. Both have been integrated into classroom training this semester.

Noelle and SimBaby join SimMan, or Mr. Grizzly, OU’s first high-tech simulator that provides realistic patient care scenarios. SimMan arrived last spring and gives students the opportunity to practice patient care on something that responds to them.

Noelle allows students to practice childbirth procedures. The simulator can deliver the baby using five settings to provide different scenarios and also can be used to practice cesarean sections.

SimBaby represents a 6-month-old infant and can produce a number of pediatric conditions. It has a “pulse” that it can lose and will turn blue to show that it’s not getting enough oxygen. It also has different cries based on its need and can be fed, something some nursing students need to learn to do properly.

“This baby was primarily designed to teach students how to care for babies in emergency situations,” said Patricia Ketcham, nursing laboratory manager.

The SimBaby came with laptop and touch-screen monitor, which are used to control the scenarios for the students. It also has a personal digital assistant (PDA) that can be used to control it remotely.

“We can develop our own scenarios so we can have the baby interact with the students,” Ketcham said.

Any scenarios preformed on SimBaby also can be recorded through a Web cam attached to the touch-screen monitor used to control it, which can be played back for critique sessions.

Through the simulators, students can practice techniques before performing them on real-life patients, which gives them more confidence when it comes to do procedures in the field.

The Sim family will grow again later this year with the addition of PediaSim, a 6-7-year-old child that will provide emergency and more routine scenarios for students to practice. PediaSim is expected to arrive in June.

For more information on Oakland University’s nursing programs, visit the School of Nursing Web site or call (248) 370-4253.