A new nurse training unit has opened at Australian Catholic University's Ballarat campus on Thursday, complete with lifelike mannequins, which replicate bodily sounds and symptoms.
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Anastasia Drapaniotis, who is in her final year of nursing and paramedicine studies at ACU said the most exciting thing about the unit was that it gave her experience close to work in a hospital setting.
"The new mannequins are great ... the fact that they're so realistic - you can take a pulse and you can listen to their breathing," she said.
"I think that's really important because as soon as you go out into placement, they expect you to know all these things and these mannequins and these labs definitely help with that."
Among the features of the new $1.9 million unit are a simulation suite, control room, steri room, drugs room, pan room, observation room, and new equipment, and 16 beds across wards that mimic a hospital layout.
It is a part of $8.7 million in funding from the Andrews government to the ACU Ballarat campus under the Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund, which saw $350 million shared between universities across the state.
State member for Wendouree Juliana Addison said the old nursing unit was out of date and the funding allowed facilities with more staff with different clinical backgrounds, in turn allowing students to benefit from more diverse industry experience.
"Now you have to fully equipped simulation ward, it's double the capacity of this campus to provide pre-clinical nurse training, teaching spaces reflect a real hospital ward, and we will help students to be ready for the workplace," she said
"The new mannequins support the development of the students' critical thinking and clinical reasoning, and will help build their confidence for when they need real patients."
The university has the largest cohort of nursing graduates in Australia.
ACU vice chancellor Professor Zlatko Skrbis said the "world-class" facility and its technology ensured the university will continue to play a leading role in meeting the demand for nurses in the future.
"At a time when the importance of our frontline health care workforce has been so strongly highlighted we continue to remain committed to meeting the growing demand for nurses, paramedics and, of course, a range of health care workers," he said.
"This development is a fundamental link in ensuring that well trained and well educated nurses are available in years to come, especially to communities throughout regional Victoria."
For Ms Drapaniotis, she said she was looking forward to completing her studies and the facility meant she felt prepared for what was to come.
"It's like you're actually talking to a real patient if someone's behind the microphone, you get to do your assessments and you get to ask the questions and it's like the mannequin is talking back to you," she said.
"That's the best part because it's like you're actually treating a real patient, and that's something really important to get you prepared."
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