The expanded lab more than doubles the size of the former training space used to simulate lifelike medical scenarios with male, female and infant mannequins. It features three rooms identical to the patient rooms at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary so that nurses and other medical practitioners can undergo a training experience as realistic as possible. 

The patient rooms in the lab contain the same furniture as other patient rooms at St. Vincent Infirmary, even down to the menus posted on the wall. The intricate level of detail aids in teaching nurses how to avoid potential obstacles when handling patients who are fall risks, for instance. 

"One of the many benefits of having a simulation lab inside a hospital is that we can train both proactively and reactively based on almost any scenario," said Jacqueline Arnold, director of nursing excellence and clinical education at CHI St. Vincent. "If our nurses encounter a problem and need to know how best to handle it, they can walk down the hall, reconstruct that problem in the sim lab, and we can work together to find the right solution. Having additional capacity for education will allow us to meet our patients' needs more confidently and effectively." 

The lab's expansion was made possible by sponsorships and gifts to the CHI St. Vincent Foundation through fundraisers like the foundation's annual golf classic and IV Party. With the support of the Blue and You Foundation, which provided funding for the mannequins through grants to the CHI St. Vincent Foundation, the new lab will be an essential teaching and training tool for CHI St. Vincent for years to come.