Human Patient Simulators and Interactive Case Studies

Recent technological advances have enhanced the capa­ bility of human patient simulators (HPS) to duplicate clinical situations so that students can practice decisionmaking skills in a controlled environment. When using HPS, nursing students experience a real-life patient prob­ lem and follow the nursing process through interactions with the HPS. Students collect data from the HPS through the assessment process, analyze this information, and in­ tervene based on the patient situation. Human patient simulators are programmed to respond by determining the outcome of the student’s intervention—the simulated patient either recovers from the problem after receiving proper treatment or dies as the result of omitting a nec­ essary intervention or implementing an inappropriate intervention. While nursing faculty are amazed and en­ thralled with the technology and innovativeness of this teaching method, HPS are expensive, costing between $30 000 and $150 000 each. The time required for faculty training, as well as the time required to program the clinical scenarios, must also be considered when cal­ culating the expenses associated with this teaching strategy. Additionally, physical space must be allocated for the storage and operation of the HPS, adding further to the cost of this instructional device. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing & Vol. 28, No. 1, 42–48 & Copyright