ON CAMPUS: Loyalist student recognized
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Megan Mahoney was a second-year student in Loyalist College’s Nursing Collaborative Degree program with Brock University when she was introduced to the college’s human simulation lab. Like most students, she approached her patient with hesitation, questioning how simulation training would benefit her in the field.
“I didn’t understand how it could be applied to clinical. It’s a manikin and very different from a real, live person,” said Mahoney. “I didn’t appreciate it until I realized my confidence in clinical came from simulation.”
Mahoney is the recipient of the 2016 SIM Student Award from SIM-one, a nation-wide not-for-profit organization that brings together Canada’s simulation community, facilities and resources. Mahoney’s award submission portrayed characters in a video game and creatively expressed how simulation made her feel less anxious and more comfortable in a clinical environment.
“The SIM award is a huge honour for me,” she said. “It has made me very excited and energetic to complete my degree and see what the future entails as a registered nurse who has an interest in simulation.”
Mahoney’s attraction to nursing began when she was in high school completing a co-op placement at Campbellford Memorial Hospital.
“The nurses were amazing. They truly had a positive impact on the patients’ outcomes and progress. I wanted to help, support, empathize and be just like the nurses I witnessed.”
In the spring of 2015, Mahoney was approached by Loyalist Nursing Professor Julie Rivers about being a research assistant on a project that puts nursing and gaming under the microscope. “It’s a grounded theory study investigating the integration of gaming into the nursing curriculum,” said Mahoney. “It’s unique to Loyalist. We’ve been trialling Loyalist students with the gaming program and, in the future, hope to expand the research to other colleges and universities.”
When Mahoney came to Loyalist she saw herself working at a hospital, ideally in the emergency department. Now in her final year, her career objectives have changed.
“Simulation wasn’t an area of nursing I had ever thought about,” she said. “It has completely changed my perspective of what I want to do with my career. I see myself continuing to work in simulation to ensure that future nursing students can benefit from technology like I have.”
Loyalist College’s Nursing Collaborative Degree with Brock University is a program recognized for hands-on learning and academic excellence, with an innovative curriculum based on current standards and best practices. Students spend the first two years at Loyalist and the final two years at Brock University in St. Catharines to graduate with a B.Sc.N. awarded by Brock.
In their second year at Loyalist, students participate in multiple high fidelity (high realism) learning activities to prepare them to help patients experiencing acute and persistent health challenges across the life span. These simulations consist of routine and emergent patient situations students may not have the opportunity to encounter in their clinical placement. The simulated care environment provides opportunities for students to manage conditions such as admission assessment, chest pain, stroke, septic shock, hemorrhage and blood transfusion reaction, to name a few.
More recently, avatar based games; i.e. Clinical Nursing, have been integrated into the educational experience to further enhance student preparation for lab simulation and clinical placement. Research to date supports these educational games have had a positive impact on student performance and confidence. This research is being presented at an International Healthcare Qualitative research conference later this month.
For more information about Loyalist’s Nursing Collaborative Degree with Brock University, visit loyalistcollege.com.