Worthington Christian students will receive real-world training, thanks to the school’s Faculty Innovation Grant.
Thanks to Worthington Christian’s Faculty Innovation Grant program, students in Dawn McMahon’s Honors Anatomy & Physiology courses will get a taste of what it would be like to work in a hospital setting.
McMahon received a grant to purchase a bedside virtual patient monitor and a blood pressure training system to enhance the advanced patient care simulator that the anatomy and physiology classes are currently using.
“Our Honors Anatomy & Physiology course is designed for the student interested in pursuing a science or medical major in college,” McMahon said. “Having access to this clinical patient simulator and patient monitoring will be immensely impactful for these students moving forward.”
Many of McMahon’s students have gone into the medical field. Her dentist and labor and delivery nurse were both her former students.
“(McMahon’s) honors anatomy class is when I realized I was interested in learning about the human body,” said Caroline Mousa, who is a nurse in the medical and cardiac Intensive Care Unit at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital.
The Faculty Innovation Grant and the Student Innovation Grant were introduced at the school last fall. Both are fully funded with gifts from donors who are passionate about supporting the teachers’ and students’ innovative and creative ideas. According to the grant application, the Faculty Innovation Grant is available to support faculty innovation through research, academic studies, community development, or educational initiatives to broaden the student experience.
The program aims to enhance WC’s teaching and learning objectives. The goal of the grant program is to foster student engagement in the curricular experience, enhance experiential learning, and impact the scholarship of teaching and learning at WCS.
The bedside virtual monitor is like the monitors used in hospitals nationwide. It looks and functions like a real device, supplying continuous, real-time patient data to help develop critical thinking and decision-making skills.
Similarly, the blood pressure training system will help students experience the process and develop the skills needed to perform blood pressure auscultation procedures and techniques.
“With these new tools, students will be able to monitor patient vital signs, measure blood pressure, set up and interpret electrocardiogram recordings, practice CPR and Life-Saving Techniques, work on clinical decision-making and collaboration, and engage safety and ethical considerations in clinical practice,” McMahon said.
“Those (two devices) would be good additions to students looking to go into a medical profession,” Mousa added. “In nursing school, we used mannequins that simulated different human body functions like heart rate, respiration, and even one that could give birth, to help nursing students practice assessments and skills before working on (actual) patients. I think adding those two devices into the classroom could help students see what it is like working with real people.”
Please consider donating if you would like to help make additional Faculty Innovation Grants possible.