Charles Darwin University’s vHospital is set to unveil its latest developments in a showcase event.
Six cases have been developed for CDU’s vHospital, an online case-based learning environment which allows student nurses to admit and care for patients in a “virtual hospital”.
Cases include medical, surgical and mental health admissions, all developed through collaborations between CDU academic staff and expert clinicians.
Senior Lecturer in Nursing at CDU, Gylo (Julie) Hercelinskyj said the vHospital allowed nurses to care for patients, from triaging them in the emergency department through the patient journey to definitive treatment and discharge.
"Contemporary nurses function in a complex and changing health care environment and are required to develop competencies in critical thinking, problem solving and lifelong learning, in addition to clinical skills competency,” she said.
“They are required to provide nursing care to individuals, families and communities across the lifespan using a primary health approach.
“Students need opportunities to integrate a range of knowledge, attitudes and skills in the analysis of practice problems. They need time to practice and they need feedback on the results.”
Ms Hercelinskyj said the cases had been carefully constructed to enable learners to develop critical thinking and decision making skills in addition to integrating information seeking and a range of knowledge and skills and applying them to novel situations.
“The academic preparation has been expertly translated into a ‘living breathing patient' through the expert work of Paula Wilson and Peter Browne(formerly at CDU), from the Teaching and Learning Quality Group, along with project managers Kasi Metcalf and Kara Burns (formerly at CDU)” she said.
The showcase will be an opportunity to thank people for their contributions to the vHospital, present two case study examples of the completed project and introduce some preliminary feedback from 2008.
The vHosptial project was initially developed to coincide with the revision of the Bachelor of Nursing Program in 2006 under the guidance of then Associate Professor Isabelle Ellis. The project received further support through funds provided from the Dean, Faculty of Education, Health and Science, Professor Graham Pegg.
The vHospital Showcase will be held on Thursday, 2 July. For more information contact Julie Hercelinskyj on 8946 6128.