Advanced Perinatal Nursing Training at BGSU

Vantage Healthcare of Ohio (VHO) Maternity Directors Coalition, along with BGSU’s Nursing Administrators, organized a special training at BGSU’s new high-tech nursing simulation center.

This training was for nurses who work with moms and babies during childbirth. Lisa Barndt, director of obstetrical services at WCH, and Holly Bollenbacher, director of obstetric services at Bellevue Hospital, worked together with experts from BGSU’s Nursing Simulation Lab, Dr. Lisa Jacobs and Dr. Kathryn Marie Hebert-Rodriguez, to create the training.

L&D nurses with 2 years or less experience in the specialty from different hospitals like Fulton County, Bellevue Community Hospital and Wellness Centers and Wood County Hospital took part in the training. The participants learned how to handle two challenging situations in childbirth: heavy bleeding during pregnancy and after birth, and severe high blood pressure in pregnant women.

The nursing simulation lab is designed to look and feel like a real healthcare setting. In this lab, nurses practice their new skills and knowledge on lifelike mannequins that behave almost like real people. These mannequins can breathe, talk, blink, have a heartbeat, and even “give birth.” It’s like practicing with real patients but in a safe learning environment.

These simulation labs are very important for nursing education because they help nurses:

1. Feel more confident when dealing with stressful situations.

2. Learn from their mistakes without any harm to real patients.

3. Gain experience and confidence in handling conditions they might not have encountered before.

It’s a steppingstone to prepare nurses for real-life interactions with patients. Simulation training is a valuable tool that helps nurses become better at their jobs and provide safer and more effective care to moms and babies during childbirth.