Kaiser Permanente provides an extraordinary training program for their medical staff to ensure quality performances with patient care and enhanced teamwork capabilities. According to Gigi Baniqued, Director of the Clinical Education, Practice, and Informatics Department at Kaiser Permanente, “The vision for the program is to promote learning and practice using simulation-based education to improve safety and create highly reliable teams.”
Baniqued discusses the enhanced mannequins used in the Simulation Lab program. “There are five different types of mannequins, each with their own functionality.” She goes into detail about one of the mannequins called SimMan3G, “He can talk and breathe; we can also program him to do different things. He’s very high tech.” When asked about the various performances SimMan3G is put though, she replies, “We practice different kinds of things on him. For instance, code blue, various drills or even CPR. We can even put him through septic shock and have a team of providers and nurses in the room figure out how to take care of him.” The mannequins are good for clinic skills as well as practicing emergency situations. Through the various drills, they enhance the skill level of both providers and nurses.
Baniqued goes on to describe another of their mannequins – a full functioning pregnant mannequin called Noel. “She can give birth to a baby, and even the baby is a Sim newbie that can be given CPR. We can put a heart rhythm onto a monitor so we can do shocks on the mannequins and see the different rhythms on the monitor.” The mannequins allow the physicians and nurses to be able to perform real life scenarios on the equipment.
The Simulation mannequins have been a part of Kaiser since the hospital opened. “It’s taken awhile to incorporate the mannequins into different operations, but it has definitely gained momentum,” Baniqued admits. “We are now incorporating simulations into education for nurses and physicians.” Hands on is the best way to train to really understand how it all comes together. Kaiser has a full Sim lab, and the Simulation mannequins are mobile as well. “We are able to take them into patients’ rooms for a live environment while the physicians practice on the mannequins,” she continues. After the training on the mannequins has been completed, there is an in-depth discussion about what happened. “That’s when the learning happens, while discussing what they did well or what they could have done different.”
Part of the mannequin training includes the switching of roles–the physician takes on the role of the nurse and vice versa. “That way they understand each other’s role better and have a clear understanding of who does what,” Baniqued concludes.
For more information about the Simulation Mannequins contact:
Gigi Baniqued, RN MHA CHC
Service Director-Clinical Education,
Practice & informatics (CEPI)
Kaiser Permanente-Central Valley Area
4601 Dale Road
Modesto, (209) 735-4553
[email protected]