Nursing Lab for Health Science Programs

In the summer of 2006, the Nursing Lab at Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley received a complete facelift.  The new lab features modern health monitoring equipment used in today’s hospitals and which provide the training tools and realistic hands-on practice that students need as they prepare for their clinical experiences at health care facilities throughout the Ottawa Valley.

This major renovation project has created a centre of excellence for nursing education for students in the Personal Support Worker, Practical Nursing, and Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs.  Sim Man is a computer-controlled patient which can be programmed with a variety of medical symptoms that students can observe, assess and discuss.

PSW students use the latest digital blood pressure monitors and pulse oximeters to record vital signs, and practice these skills on each other.  For special skills such as catheter care and colostomy care, the students are taught and practice these skills using the patient mannequins.

Other hands-on techniques learned by the Personal Support Worker students include learning to bathe clients in bed, provide comfort measures, and turn and reposition clients in bed and wheelchairs. In addition, students are taught how to ambulate clients using wheelchairs, walkers and canes.

The practice labs are a very valuable component of their training and allow the students to translate their classroom theory into practical clinical skills they will use in their careers.