Grant Gives Nursing Students Access to Interactive Simulations
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Earlier this year, the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey (HFNJ) awarded Seton Hall's
College of Nursing a grant to purchase the i-Human Patients platform for training nurse practitioner
students. i-Human Patients, a cloud-based multimedia case authoring and playback system
owned and operated by Kaplan, virtually simulates a complete patient encounter including
history taking, physical examinations, formulation of a differential diagnosis, and
ordering and evaluation of diagnostic tests.
"This product will enhance the online nurse practitioner competency-based curriculum
and help prepare nurse practitioner students for practice," said College of Nursing
Dean Marie Foley, Ph.D.
i-Human Patients has a library of over 350 cases to practice from, with integrated
learning through lessons, quizzes and exercises. Students have already reported that
they "liked the ability to focus on the patient versus all the usual distractions." Another
indicated how helpful it was in "providing virtual insight into 'real-life' scenarios," and
found that the "takeaways from the scenarios will be helpful in clinical practice
in regard to proficiency and diagnosis."
Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research Kathleen Neville, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN added, "This pedagogical approach will provide students with enhanced remote opportunities
to increase technological skills and practice diagnostic skills, decision-making and
clinical reasoning in a simulated environment to prepare students for healthcare delivery
in an increasingly complex technological healthcare systems."
In addition, the grant allowed the College to purchase respiratory and intubation
equipment that provide better visualization of the larynx for use in the Adult-Gerontology
Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program.
"We were pleased to receive the grant award which allowed us to further integrate
simulation into the nurse practitioner curriculum," said Joyce Maglione, Ph.D., APRN, associate professor and director of the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
Program. "All students trained so far on the respiratory equipment demonstrated proficiency
and the i-Human video simulation was well received by all nurse practitioner students." Both
Neville and Maglione are the principal investigators for this grant.
Giving Back to the Community
HFNJ operates on a quarterly grant-making cycle, providing funds to improve the health
and well-being of vulnerable populations in the greater Newark and Jewish Greater
MetroWest communities. All awards from HFNJ were in support of new projects, and many
awards were given to organizations receiving their first-ever grant from HFNJ.
A significant initiative in the College of Nursing has been the focus on graduate nurse training to address the underserved in the City of Newark through the awards of several federal grants, including the $3.6 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration and the $450,000 grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
"HFNJ is pleased to provide funding for critical projects that will support residents in the greater Newark area, especially grants that will help train the next generation of healthcare workers, who are in short supply and are vitally needed as communities recover from the pandemic," said Michael Schmidt, executive director and CEO of the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.
Categories: Education, Health and Medicine