Talking mannequins give nursing students vital signs

Seven new medical mannequins have been unveiled during a clinical training course for nurses at Charles Darwin University’s Alice Springs campus this week.

Each of the state-of-the-art mannequins has been programmed to simulate behaviour consistent with a series of common clinical conditions.

Senior Lecturer in Nursing Robin Cross said each of the $7800 “patients” was a welcome addition to the training ward, where third-year Bachelor of Nursing students are undertaking clinical training this week.

“(The mannequins) can be programmed to speak in any language, to mimic human emotions and to reflect a broad spectrum of human conditions,” Mrs Cross said.

“They emit all the normal vital signs and can respond to questions in real time, allowing us to provide students with a much better simulated experience.

“One of the mannequins will go into cardiac arrest during the clinical emergency session and another will experience a severe asthma attack.

“Students will be assessed on how they respond to the situation and how well they manage the patient.”

Mrs Cross said the primary focus of this week’s training block was to consolidate knowledge and reinforce a broad range of clinical skills among the 19 third-year students.

“They will return to their home towns next week to undertake their clinical placements.”

Mrs Cross said a further 40 students were expected for other training blocks throughout March.

“They will come from within the Territory, all mainland states except Victoria and one student will be coming from South-East Asia.”