Inter-Professional Education

Tammie Fournier
NBCC Instructor

Working collaboratively is important, especially when it comes to sharing a $30,000 learning tool named Patti.

Tammie Fournier, Coordinator and Instructor in NBCC’s Respiratory Therapy Program, presented the poster Partnering for Patti: Using simulation as a learning tool to support Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative Competency Development at the Inter-professional Health Research (IHR) Day held at the Saint John Regional Hospital on March 24, 2017 and hosted by Horizon Health Network, UNB Saint John, NBCC and Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick.

Named after one of the instructors’ mothers, Patricia, Patti is a mannequin that talks, breathes (with breath sounds), and pulses. It requires a coordinated approach among students in order to safely manage the care of Patti.

Partnering for Patti is a mandatory simulation inter-professional education experience that was collaboratively developed by faculty from NBCC's Respiratory Therapy program and the UNB Saint John Bachelor of Nursing Program. Using medium fidelity simulation, Partnering for Patti fosters critical thinking between third-year nursing and respiratory therapy students. The simulators are called SimMan and are made by Laertal.

"We use these mannequins every day [in class]. Plus we have SimBaby, which cost $60,000, and we use the SimBaby every day [as well]. [The SimBaby is] lovingly called baby Katherine by the instructors," Fournier said. "Simulation is integral to producing [professionals from] students who have already gained a wealth of experience with [no risk of] harming a real patient."