WESTERN Sydney University has launched Australia's first healthcare education simulator, known as the Blended Learning Interactive Simulation (BLIS) Suite.
The fully immersive training simulator puts nursing and allied healthcare students in the heart of a busy hospital emergency department, where they can interact with patients and make on-the-spot decisions with the touch of a screen.
Located at the University's Campbelltown campus, it said the BLIS suite is "one of the world's best research, learning and teaching facilities, providing researchers with a virtual classroom that simulates a real-life healthcare environment allowing for treatment decision-making across the lifespan and from diverse contexts".
The BLIS suite creates a range of different immersive educational experiences for students across nursing and midwifery, and health sciences including paramedicine, physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and traditional Chinese medicine.
A spokesperson for Western Sydney University said BLIS can be used to involve safe pharmaceutical practice or imperatives in medicine, nursing and paramedicine.
"This includes but is not limited to responsible antibiotic prescription and usage, analgesia, reduction of iatrogenic risk, compliance monitoring, and non-pharmaceutical interventions," they explained.
Dr Navin Naidoo from the School of Health Sciences said the immersive technology would enhance experiential learning and signified a leap forward in research and teaching capacity.
"The virtual classroom can simulate any environment including aged care, a hospital or other healthcare settings and even road accidents or gender-based violence contexts," said Dr Naidoo.
"The facility was conceptualised by a multidisciplinary team of experts from across the University's healthcare offering and recognises a need to equip future healthcare providers with the ability to serve the unmet needs of diverse communities," he concluded. KB
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