Blue Skies of Texas Opens Nursing Simulation Lab
San Antonio, Texas (PRWEB) December 15, 2014 -- Blue Skies of Texas (the former Air Force Village) announced the opening of a nursing simulation lab at an open house December 11 at the Blue Skies of Texas East campus located at 4917 Ravenswood Dr. in San Antonio, Texas. The skilled nursing facilities of Blue Skies of Texas are one of the first in San Antonio to offer this type of on-site training for nursing staff, furthering the commitment of the organization to provide top-rated, quality care for its residents. The lab is designed to provide hands-on training for the more than 60 nurses employed in the licensed health care centers of Blue Skies of Texas.
“We are providing our nurses with the skills necessary to manage care and disease processes within our continuum of care,” said Wendy Carpenter, Executive Director of Health Care Operations. “We want to provide our nurses with the confidence they desire, knowing they have the resources available to support them and enhance their skills.”
The lab, which was made possible through generous donations from the Blue Skies of Texas resident-run thrift stores and individual resident gifts, will be available 24-hours a day for nurses to hone their skills specific to geriatric care. All newly hired nurses will be required to successfully complete the lab while current nurses will complete competency based training on an annual basis. In addition, newly desired skills introduced in the geriatric arena will be incorporated into the lab as needed. Nurses will have the opportunity to use the lab to practice and maintain their skills at their leisure.
“Our goal is to improve patient outcomes by successfully rehabilitating patients to return to their homes, and this can only be accomplished with a competent and well-trained staff,” said Carpenter.
The 650-square-foot lab is equipped with two Life/Form Geri Nursing Skills Mannequins, one of which is an Auscultation mannequin providing heart and lung sounds. Other training devices include an IV arm, injection arms, urinary catheter insertion simulators for both male and female, a pitting edema simulator, and a Seymour II wound care model and Wilma wound foot – both are wound/pressure ulcer simulators and a stump bandage simulator.
“This lab sets us apart from other providers in San Antonio and we are proud to be able to help our nurses be the best at what they do – resulting in quality outcomes for patients,” concluded Carpenter.
Blue Skies of Texas is a non-profit continuing care retirement community that is accredited by The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). The two campuses, Blue Skies of Texas East, located at 4917 Ravenswood Dr., and Blue Skies of Texas West, located at 5100 John D. Ryan Blvd., offer the full continuum of care including independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing, rehabilitation, memory care and hospice.
For more information about Blue Skies of Texas, please visit BlueSkiesOfTexas.org
Grace Newton, Blue Skies of Texas, http://blueskiesoftexas.org, +1 210-568-3338, [email protected]
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