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The SPC represents a strategic shift towards the integration
of multiple health professions, which is a crucial factor in the reshaping
of health-care delivery for the future. By learning in a collaborative,
patient-centred environment that simulates the real world, students
will gain the ability to think critically and work on teams, and an
overall understanding of collaborative practice - ensuring that their
focus as professionals is on holistic patient outcomes and well-being.
Dianne Diniz, Chair of Collaborative Nursing at GBC, says that the
SPC will offer students the best opportunity to benefit from an interprofessional
approach to education. "Students will practice interventions and
learn with, and from, those pursuing other health professions, including
medicine, as part of problem-based scenarios in controlled clinical
environments - spaces designed to simulate actual acute care and home
care surroundings, such as a critical care room, recovery room, or home-like
setting. That's why it was important to change the name from Nursing
Resource to Simulated Practice Centre, so that the expanded scope was
captured and reinforced."
The advanced facility upgrades will incorporate an electronic health
records system and video camera broadcast system. But perhaps most exciting
of all are the complex simulation mannequins (see photo, left), which
can be programmed to demonstrate changes in breathing, hear rate, and
blood pressure.
"The student will assess the mannequin and determine what action
is required. If the student makes the wrong choice, the condition of
the mannequin will deteriorate and it can even turn blue if there is
not enough oxygen," says Diniz. "Time spent in simulation
labs prepares students to critically think through complex case situations,
prior to clinical experience in a practice placement or work environment."
The SPC is actually one of GBC's two Controlled Applied
Learning Environments (CALE) in Health Sciences - educational
spaces designed to help students
integrate theory with practice. "A CALE allows students to practice
and problem solve in interprofessional teams, which is not always possible
in placement settings such as a hospital or community environments," says
Lorie Shekter-Wolfson, Dean, Community Services and Health
Sciences.
The second CALE is the Interprofessional Learning Clinic (ILC) at GBC's
Casa Loma campus. Last November, the ILC went from a single-service
clinic offering dental services to a multi-service, collaborative clinic
that includes oral health, hearing tests and fitness assessment services.
Students from oral health, nursing, health and wellness, and health
management and technology programs work in concert to treat clients
/ patients, all under the supervision of expert faculty and staff. The
result is a more holistic approach to health care - for example, a patient
with diabetes dropping by for an oral assessment can also have a fitness
plan developed and speak to a professional in the Community Learning
Centre for Healthy Living about how to better manage their health-care
needs, during the same visit.
To learn more or become a clinic client, visit www.georgebrown.ca/clinic.
What are the hours of operation?
We operate 7 days a week staffed by clinically experienced faculty and students.
For more information
visit Room 600 St. James Campus
or contact the NRC Coordinator Lorraine Betts at 416.415.5000
ext. 3878
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PROGRAMS AND COURSES 
