Sim Family Finds New Home

New Lab Simulates Public Health Scenario

The “Sim Family” is growing—and their home at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing is expanding with them.

“Right now we have to move the simulation manikins around a lot,” explains instructor Diane Aschenbrenner, MS, RN, Coordinator of the Simulation and Practice Labs. “This [addition] gives them a little more space to ‘live’ and also just meets our expanding need.”

The new SimMom and SimJunior got a “home addition” that includes two patient simulation rooms, two debriefing rooms, and an instructor control booth. All were designed with student feedback in mind, including “colors and lights to help make the space exciting and brighten the interior space,” says Aschenbrenner.

The best part? The simulation rooms can be transformed from a hospital setting to a clinic setting with a couple of beds or a home visit setting with a living-room backdrop.

“We’ve been running [the simulation labs] nonstop since they opened,” says Aschenbrenner. “Those rooms were booked before they were built!”