MRT-TI lactation students practice in life-like simulation facility (slideshow)
August 23, 2024
For the first time, the required four-day orientation of the Mary Rose Tully Training Initiative (MRT-TI) cohort included training in the UNC School of Nursing Education-Innovation-Simulation Learning Environment (EISLE) lab.
“Historically we have created a simulation experience inside a classroom,” said Julie Theriault, the Accreditation and Training Manager for MRT-TI. “The opportunity to use the EISLE lab gave our students exposure to not only more tangible, hands-on experiences, but more time to learn valuable and necessary skills before beginning their clinical journey.”
Providing access to train on full-body patient simulators, nurses use the EISLE facility to practice IV insertions and blood draws on life-size training manikins, use equipment, and care for simulated patients.
Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute staff members Catherine Sullivan, Brooke Gilliam, and Chris Masterman facilitated these six sessions in the lab: “Communicating with Patients,” “Swaddling, Diapering, Transfers,” “Best Skin-to-Skin Practices,” “Hand Expression,” “Visual Models,” and “Latching and Positioning.”
In small groups the students rotated through the different hands-on experiences. “All of these competencies are required during the program and are necessary skills for any competent entry-level lactation consultant,” said Julie.
For MRT-TI student Hannah Larson, the hands-on experience provided a low-pressure environment to learn lactation techniques, like holding a newborn correctly. “I thought it was a great introduction to what we’d be doing with real patients without the pressure of having it being a real person,” she said. “And learning how to do it correctly, that’s the thing I was most nervous about.”
Feedback has been positive. “This collaboration with the School of Nursing gave us the ability to expose our students to more experiences in a setting that mimics a clinical placement,” said Julie. “A huge thank you to the gracious staff at the simulation lab for hosting us. We look forward to many more collaborations in the future.”
Housed within the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, the Mary Rose Tully Training Institute (MRT-TI) is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs upon recommendation of the Lactation Education Accreditation and Approval Review Committee. In 2016, MRT-TI earned the distinction of becoming the first accredited Pathway 2 lactation consultant training program in the United States. The program is in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at UNC Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Robert A. Poarch
