BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — For 15 years, the nursing program at Bloomsburg University has used mannequins for students to practice on, but in the past few weeks, the program has started using new high-tech mannequins.
In what looks like a classroom for the nursing program at Bloomsburg University, these mannequins are the textbooks.
"It's definitely, since I've been here as an undergrad, changed a lot. I think it will help students be prepared to be better nurses," said grad student Dorothea Meyer.
For graduate students in the university's nursing program, the brand new high-definition mannequins are a game-changer.
"When I went to nursing school when we did injections and stuff, we did oranges and hot dogs back then," recalled grad student Tawny Engelberger.
Now doing injections and taking vitals can feel a whole lot more real. The nursing program has been using mannequins for more than a decade, but these are different.
"Talk and ask questions and communicate. When you get out there in real life, you need to know how to do that because it can be difficult."
"The first time they get in to see a patient is quite nerve-wracking for them. Our faculty are aware of that, and they do everything they can to make them feel more safe and secure, and part of that is learning on a mannequin," said nursing department chair Susan Fetterman.
With the seven new patients, the nursing program at Bloomsburg now has 17 mannequins for the students to use.
"It's a little more realistic when you have an actual patient replying, and it sets everyone up for success."
The nursing program at Bloomsburg is already ranked ninth in the state, and the faculty thinks this will just set them apart even more.
"It's absolutely fantastic. I'm proud of the students for being able to learn and do so well on these mannequins. They are tested out on the mannequins before they go into the patient, the real patient, and the nursing staff, and the students are much more comfortable being taken care of."