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Laboratories
Each program in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences has learning laboratories that are integral to the educational mission. Learning laboratories provide an environment for students to work closely with faculty and peers while being exposed to best practices and technology that they will see in the clinical arena.
The College of Nursing and Health Sciences prepares diverse healthcare professionals who are collaborative providers and leaders in the delivery of high quality, accessible, culturally-competent and compassionate care.
Nursing Resource Center
The AUM Nursing Resource Center (NRC) is comprised of three main areas; the Skills and Assessment Lab, the Simulation Lab, and the Computer Lab. The NRC is located in rooms 201, 202, and 203 of Moore Hall. The purpose of the AUM Nursing Resource Center is to provide a caring, learning environment where nursing students can enhance and challenge their ability to provide holistic client care through the development of assessment, communication, critical thinking, organizational, and psychomotor skills.
The NRC will serve the purpose of providing:
The NRC Skills/Assessment Lab is located in room 202 of Moore Hall. This lab is equipped with materials necessary for teaching technical and assessment skills while providing a clinical-like setting. The lab has ten hospital beds in two separate open areas with ten low fidelity manikins to simulate real patients. This lab also has numerous models and task trainers that allow students to become proficient in patient care and various skills. In addition to learning how to perform a head-to-toe assessment on a patient, students learn skills such as medication administration, sterile wound care and dressing change, insertion and care of foley catheters, central line care and dressing change, tracheostomy care and suctioning, insertion and care of nasogastric tubes, and initiating and maintaining IV therapy.
The NRC Simulation Lab is located in room 203 of Moore Hall. This lab is a safe learning environment that supports and enhances improvement in patient care and safety by allowing students to learn from their mistakes without causing harm to actual patients. The students can work as a team while practicing patient assessment, critical thinking, communication, and interventions based on specific patient scenarios. The simulation lab contains two medium fidelity manikins by Laerdal called SimMan Classic and one high-fidelity manikin called the SimMan 3G. These simulated patients have various features that mimic actual humans such as chest rise and fall while breathing, palpable pulses, various heart, lung, and bowel sounds, blood pressure assessment, and pre-recorded or live voices. These manikins can be controlled by instructors on the other side of a one-way glass from the control room or outside the sim lab wirelessly. The control room has three control stations with advanced video system technology that manages pan-tilt-zoom video cameras, microphones, intercoms, audio/video recording and manikin operation. The simulation exercises can be streamed live into room 201 and then played back during simulation debriefing for critique.
The NRC Computer Lab is located in room 202A of Moore Hall. This lab includes 33 computers and two printing stations for student use. Each computer has loaded hardware and software to assist students and faculty with learning needs and research activities. The usual hours of operation will vary depending on semester and is subject to closure for class testing.
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences Labs
The laboratories are designed to provide students with hands-on activities that will prepare them to become entry level Medical Laboratory Scientists. The laboratory sections include clinical chemistry, clinical hematology, clinical immunohematology, and clinical microbiology.
The students are able to use the following instruments: high pressure liquid chromatography, gas chromatograph with flame ionization detector, spectrophotometers, and electrophoresis equipment. Basic theory of fundamental clinical instrumentation will be discussed with “hands-on” experience in lab. Maintenance procedures and troubleshooting techniques will be introduced. The students will learn disorders of carbohydrate, protein, amino acid and lipid metabolism with emphasis on laboratory detection and clinical correlation of these disorders. Mechanisms for water, electrolyte and acid/base balance will be discussed in association with renal, cardiac and respiratory function. Clinical enzymology and endocrinology along with Heme, iron, bilirubin, and porphyrin metabolism will be discussed with an emphasis on disease processes associated with errors in these metabolic pathways and laboratory diagnosis.
The students learn to identify the maturation stages of all blood cells (red and white blood cells) as well as cellular kinetics and functions associated with each cell line. They will study hematologic disease states and will be able to correlate abnormal morphology associated with them. The MLS students will learn to perform the proper techniques for making and staining blood smears for white blood cell (WBC) differentials as well as reticulocyte counts. They will perform manual and automated testing for the parameters included in the Complete Blood Count (CBC). They will learn the proper techniques in venipuncture to include choosing the most appropriate method of phlebotomy, appropriate equipment, and the appropriate tubes based on the tests ordered. They will study coagulation techniques as well as the functions of hemostasis and fibrinolysis. The students will correlate disease states affecting hemostasis with coagulation testing, choosing the appropriate test for each.
The students will apply basic theory of immunology and genetics to the human blood group systems and transfusion practice. Basic immunohematology techniques will be covered in the laboratory sessions. The students will learn techniques to identify blood groups and antibodies produced by patients. The procedures the students learn include: direct antiglobulin test, antibody identification, crossmatching, phenotyping, and others. The students use these techniques to ensure that patient blood types are correct and blood is safe to give to a patient if they need to receive blood. Emphasis will be placed on problem solving to assure safe transfusion practice.
The students will learn fundamentals of molecular diagnostics, including extraction techniques, electrophoresis, PCR, and staining techniques used to evaluate DNA will be presented. Also topics in microbiology will be introduced such as safety, specimen handling, streaking techniques, morphology, and media used to isolate microorganisms. Introduction to basic procedures used in modern clinical laboratories for the isolation and identification of clinically significant microorganisms. Emphasis will be placed on laboratory identification of these infectious organisms. Continued development of the skills necessary to function efficiently in a microbiology laboratory. The student will be exposed to extensive bacterial identification problems as it relates to various specimen sites (respiratory, CSF, etc.). Other topics include anaerobic bacteria and mycobacteria.
Speech and Hearing Clinic
The AUM Speech and Hearing Clinic is a full-service speech and hearing clinic, serving the university and surrounding communities for more than 30 years.
