Less than five minutes into our first conversation with Bobby Scanlon, Dove Healthcare Nursing Program Nurse Educator, it’s clear she is in the right profession.
Dove Healthcare is a long-term care facility in western Wisconsin, where Scanlon has spent over two decades teaching geriatrics and elder care to CNA and nursing students. A lot has changed since she first began teaching, from teaching tools and methods to students’ expectations. However, Scanlon’s dedication has only grown — and as a result, she is helping to make a big impact on healthcare education.
Comprised of six skilled nursing facilities, four assisted living facilities and one rehabilitation company, Dove Healthcare serves almost 500 residents and patients every day. As a nursing educator, Scanlon’s job is to teach her CNA, CBRF and CPR students the skills they need to provide quality care.
However, Scanlon takes it one step further: She’s teaching empathy and geriatric sensitivity, key soft skills for anyone working with older adult patients, using Realityworks’ RealCare™ Geriatric Simulator.
We filmed Scanlon’s students using their Geriatric Simulator for the first time. Watch them react to the experience, and hear what they learned, below:
Creating “Aha!” moments
Scanlon has always sought to teach her students empathy and compassion toward the elderly, sharing with us that she regularly emphasizes the interactions her students have with residents during clinicals. Of course, there’s nothing like experiencing a lesson for yourself, and that’s what Scanlon does with the Geriatric Simulator.
Her students are challenged to complete basic daily tasks like turning the pages of a book, buttoning a shirt, sitting and standing while wearing the full suit, which includes a walker and visual impairment glasses. The experiences make an impact; we were able to observe a CNA class as they tried the suit, and statements of “Oh my gosh,” “Oh wow” and “I didn’t know this is what they felt like!” came from every student, along with many statements of understanding.
Those statements of understanding – those “aha” moments – are why Scanlon exposes her students to these types of learning experiences. Throughout our conversations, she repeatedly stated that her goal by the end of each class is to “pass on my passion for working with the elderly to my students.”
Her dedication and passion for elder care will drive her continued success, and as she’s already observed, empower her students to positively impact the lives of the elderly as well.
Learning tools used:
RealCare™ Geriatric Simulator
This wearable simulator helps with teaching empathy by enabling students to personally experience a variety of physical and visual challenges, like stooped posture, restricted range of motion, glaucoma and more.