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EXERCISE SCIENCE NURSING PHYSICAL THERAPY PUBLIC HEALTH OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Now more than ever, the world needs qualified experts to address continuing and emerging healthcare challenges. The School of Health Sciences at American International College seeks to prepare the next generation of healthcare professionals to lead a wide range of essential fields.
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HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE CONT’D
we would be shut down again.”
Before COVID, Fugiel and her staff had begun to
look into virtual simulation programs for nurs-
ing instruction. Once clinical access became more difficult, they quickly added these programs to the curriculum. Virtual simulation is a type of interactive
“We are going to see more telehealth in health care, so education needs to address this on a broader scope going forward.”
software by which one or more students can work with a virtual patient from initial check-in through delivering a diagnosis.
Accepted in some areas of accreditation, Fugiel believes virtual simulation is an effective instruction- al tool because it encourages critical thinking and clinical reasoning. “The student can interact with the patient, and the instructor can check in to see how things are going, just like they would in an actual hospital setting.”
In addition to using visual simulations, Kayla Aliengena, chair of the Nursing program at HCC, said she wants to broaden the scope of simulations and hopes to incorporate virtual reality as a tool.
“We’re looking for alternate learning experiences that are more than just sitting at a computer,” she
tests and attends lectures, but clinical work is where you get real hands-on experience in how to deal with people.”
Clinical partners also understand the importance of staying flexible and finding creative solutions. Aliengena noted that nursing students are able to stay on schedule because one local hospital has al- lowed students to access its maternity ward, which helps nursing students satisfy their curriculum demands.
Seeking clinical experience in more than one set- ting is an approach Fugiel said is working at STCC.
“We are encouraging different settings like vaccine clinics, or, if they are in acute care, we’ll rotate them through long-term care,” she explained, noting that, while settings may vary, the requirements to gradu- ate do not.
“ W e e v a l u a t e t h e c l i n i c a l w o r k o f o u r s t u d e n t s t h e way we always have,” Aliengena added. “They are expected to meet the same standards and capacity as if a pandemic wasn’t occurring.”
Pressing Pause
Because standards cannot be compromised, some students have opted out of programs for now.
“Going to nursing school is hard all by itself — now let’s add a pandemic,” Fugiel said. “Many of our students work in healthcare, so they’re trying to meet the demands of work, the needs of the community,
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KAREN ROUSSEAU
explained. “With virtual- reality-type programs, students can get closer to a hands-on experience.”
Some students
have been involved in clinical experiences using telehealth. Rousseau
said faculty who have run telehealth clinics have been able to help
s t u d e n t s m a i n t a i n t h e i r clinical hours and keep them moving forward.
“This has been an interesting adjustment, and I predict this will be
incorporated in more curriculums,” she noted. “We are going to see more telehealth in health care, so education needs to address this on a broader scope going forward.”
While these are all good alternatives, Aliengena made it clear that virtual learning does not replace actual experience.
“For a nursing student, ‘clinicals’ are the most ex- citing time in the course,” she said. “Everyone takes