Students, Meet ‘Nurse Anne’: Nursing Program at Centralia College Acquires Life-Like Simulator

The Associate Degree Nursing Program at Centralia College just received a major tech upgrade, and students are about to work with a more realistic patient than they have previously had access to.

“The idea behind simulation is learning by error, honestly,” said Ellen Hinderlie, nursing program director at Centralia College. “It’s learning by error in a safe environment to make those errors and learn from them without causing any (live) patient harm. … So (nursing students) can kill Anne, Dan or any of the other simulators however many times it’s necessary to get something across to them.”

The nursing program at Centralia College uses nursing simulators — or life-like mannequins that nursing students can treat — to give students practice scenarios with “patients.” The lab has other simulators, but the Nursing Anne Simulator is the most lifelike and high tech. 

For example, Nurse Anne randomly blinks, has a pulse, coughs and breathes. Nurse Anne is also wireless, and controlled by an instructor through a touch pad.

“The new mannequin looks completely more realistic in that her skin feels more realistic to human skin,” Hinderlie said.

The old simulator, which is about 20 years old, was attached to an air compressor to make the simulator’s chest rise and fall. 

The air compressor made noise when students tried to hear instructions. Nurse Anne does not have an air compressor.

“Everything is contained inside her so while she is breathing you can see her chest rise and fall and you can hear lung sounds,” Hinderlie said. “If they (students) have the stethoscope they can hear lung sounds — no compressor sounds.”

Nurse Anne costs about $35,000. The Centralia College Foundation raised more than $60,000 at its annual gala on Nov. 3, 2018. During the “raise the paddle” part of the event, the Centralia College Foundation raised the $35,000 for Nurse Anne.

Hinderlie said the equipment arrived in December and that Nurse Anne was assembled by 2019. Staff will receive training on how to use her in March. So far, only the second-year nursing students have seen Nurse Anne. Several first-year students interacted with her for the first time Monday morning.

“She definitely seems more life like,” said first-year nursing student Devon McCormick.

The students said the blinking and the fact they can check Nurse Anne’s pulse everywhere were the first things they noticed right away.

“On (the old simulator), it’s more of a tick or, when you’re listening, a very digital kind of sound,” said first-year nursing student Jesseeka Hughes. “On this one, the lung sounds are actually pretty real. Then the heart tone in the background, you can hear that as well.”

While Nurse Anne can talk on her own, staff can also speak through her.

“She can’t say everything that could possibly (be needed) to respond to what students might ask or say to her,” Hinderlie said.

In addition, the life-like Nurse Anne can change genders so students can practice even more scenarios.

“In the first quarter of this year, the genitalia parts and a chest plate that can be interchanged will enable Nurse Anne to become Nurse Dan,” Hinderlie said. “We can use the same mannequin for scenarios that would involve a male and — ultimately could be like a prepubescent female or younger male, older male, older adult female or potentially transgender — so that they (students) have exposure to anything they could potentially see in the clinical site and kind of overcome any sort of unawareness here.”

The ultimate goal, Hinderlie said, is that students automatically respond to patients with the proper questions and treatments.

“They (simulators) can die and be resurrected lots of times, where people can’t do that,” Hinderlie said.