Delta Health Foundation announces a 4.4 pound, 19-inch educational bundle of joy that arrived in Delta Health's Stork Landing on November 9 made possible through a grant from Western Colorado Community Foundation. The infant simulator, called SimNewB, is a training device co-created by Laerdal and the American Academy of Pediatrics, designed to help improve neonatal resuscitation in the first 10 minutes of life.
“The Foundation was honored to use this grant money to highlight support for labor and delivery services at Delta Health,” says Delta Health Foundation President, Darnell Place-Wise. “It’s an incredibly vital component for our community; the infant simulator will help train staff for many years to come.”
The infant simulator provides realistic training for critical interventions including lung recruitment maneuvers and advanced airway management. This simulator will provide training for new labor and delivery nurses as well as skill development for physicians and experienced nurses.
“There’s a nursing shortage nationally, so we need to take a ‘grow your own’ approach in certain clinical departments. Labor and Delivery is one area where staff benefit from continual training and this infant simulator will be essential in our ability to train and cross-train nurses while also keeping our physicians and experienced nurses performing at a high level.” says Melissa Palmer, Executive Director of Nursing at Delta Health.
The simulator can be pre-programmed to have uneven breathing patterns and heart rates, skin discolorations, and pupil and eye changes with each simulation reacting to how nurses and physicians respond to the presenting symptoms. The entire simulation can be video recorded for debriefing to enhance the learning experience for the person training or group exercises.
Delta Health Education Director, Janel Webb, says, “We’re so grateful to have access to this state-of-the-art training. It will be used in Labor and delivery primarily, but the computer system can simulate in other areas of the hospital as well for adult, pediatric, and infant training scenarios.”
To learn more about Delta Health’s Labor and Delivery unit Stork’s Landing, visit deltahealthco.org.