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Some nursing schools are using state-of-the-art electronic manequins to teach a variety of skills, while others are experimenting with more Internet course work.

For Linda Mitchell, RN, it's no longer a question of when the Internet Age will start to influence nursing. She believes it's already happening.

Mitchell experienced firsthand this growing connection between nursing and high-tech while earning her baccalaureate degree at Rush University in Chicago. In the course of her studies, Mitchell had to assess the usefulness of medical Web sites. The assignment was a way to help would-be nurses become familiar with the range of information patients might find in cyberspace.

"[The faculty] realize that so many people are using the Internet," she said. "You have to be able to help them weed out the bad stuff."

Mitchell's experience is part of a broader movement in nursing education to use technology in the training of future RNs. Some nursing schools are using state-of-the-art electronic mannequins to teach a variety of skills, while others are experimenting with more Internet course work. Students also are training to care for patients with the same kind of cutting-edge health informatics technology used more and more by practicing nurses.

It's difficult to make a blanket assessment of the state of technology in nursing schools. But Barbara Grumet, JD, executive director of the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, suggests that schools deserve a passing mark at least. "Nursing programs are moving rapidly to embrace technology and keeping abreast of changes in technology that are going to affect the profession," said Grumet, whose group provides accreditation for about 70 percent of the nation's nursing school programs.

One factor in the schools' favor is that nursing education involves training in hospitals and clinics, where students routinely encounter new medical gear. But faculties have to do more than simply expose students to the latest gadget, Grumet said. "The trick is to educate the students on the use of the technology, and more importantly on the uses of the information that the technology is providing you."

Almost human

Electronic mannequins can help nursing students before they even reach the clinical setting. These devices are essentially the ResusciAnne dummies with enhanced physiques and plenty of computer smarts. They allow nursing students to learn procedures and practice patient care in simulated scenarios.

Laerdal Medical, which produced the first ResusciAnne in 1960, now offers "SimMan," a life-size mannequin on which students can practice techniques such as intubation, needle cricothyrotomy, using defibrillation equipment and establishing an intravenous line. SimMan simulates breathing as well as heart and bowel sounds, and its software generates patient monitoring data such as ECG, blood pressure and temperature information. What's more, instructors can set up different patient scenarios, such as an airway complication or drop in blood pressure.

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