Nursing school hits the road to train

Southeast Technical Institute’s newest nursing lab comes with mannequin-like robots, hospital beds and a handicapped bathroom.

And wheels.

Converted from a semi-trailer, the Mobile Simulation Unit heads to Chamberlain next week and eventually to towns across South Dakota as Southeast officials continue efforts to improve rural health.

Buoying health care in small towns begins with education, said Kristin Possehl, nursing program director.

“There’s a big demand for (licensed practical nurses) in rural parts of the state,” Possehl said. “Basically, they would have no access to nursing education.”

The road-tripping lab is one of two mobile units the tech school will deploy to offer new health care training opportunities to students who live far away from the Sioux Falls campus.

About 10 students who live in the Chamberlain area will be the first to use the lab-on-wheels. They will take LPN classes through Southeast online, heading to the trailer when it’s time to practice clinical work.

Permanent passengers aboard the trailer include iStan simulators, capable of mimicking different diseases and conditions. There’s also a woman simulator with a baby.

And wireless Internet.

“It will be set up with the same kind of supplies we have on campus,” Possehl said. “The simulators we’re getting through the grant are all new.”

The fleet of medical labs is only part of Southeast’s plan.

The first trailer — with an estimated price tag near $500,000 — is covered by a federal grant. A group of South Dakota schools, including all four technical institutes, was awarded $16.5 million from the United States Department of Labor to improve health care learning opportunities.

Southeast is leading force behind the South Dakota Allied Health Training Consortium, which is tasked with providing more programming for health care students and addressing hiring challenges in rural parts of the state.

The best bet for ensuring rural towns in South Dakota have skilled health care providers is giving them access to training, said Craig Peters, Southeast’s academics director.

The mobile simulators will be used to provide training for LPNs and for certified nursing assistants.

Next week marks new ground for Southeast. It’s one of the first times the school will be able to offer its nursing programs remotely.

“If they’re already there and we can train them, then they’re less likely to leave,” Peters said.