MANSFIELD, PA—Mansfield University nursing students gained valuable experience and perspective by
participating in Community Disaster Simulation Day at Towanda Memorial Hospital on October 17.
Twenty eight nursing students, supervised by MU faculty, along with hospital staff and first responders, took part in a mass casualty simulation at the hospital. While some students participated in medical roles, others were called on to play the role of victims and family members of victims.
“We’re doing this as part of our Community Health Nursing course,” Susan Lanzara, assistant professor and Simulation Lab coordinator, said. “Students learn in that course about disaster preparedness and we felt that this simulation is an excellent way for them to get an idea of what that’s like.”
“I think this gave us a real-life glimpse into what a situation like this is like,” Bridget Kilburn, a senior from State College, PA, said. “Playing a patient, I was able to step back and watch and be able to see what it would be like to be someone who needs help, but they have to wait.”
“We wanted our students to understand the role of the nurse in a disaster, to collaborate with other disciplines and to learn about triage,” Lanzara said. “Triage in a disaster is very different than triage in an emergency room situation.”
“I thought it was an excellent experience,” Amber Skworzow, a senior from Effort, PA, said. “You don’t ever know when an explosion or something like that might happen, but you always have to be prepared for it.”
Lanzara and her fellow faculty members plan to make participation in drills and simulations like this one a regular part of the curriculum for their students in the future.
To see more pictures from Community Disaster Simulation Day, click here.
To learning more about studying Nursing at Mansfield, go to mansfield.edu/nursing