Hands-on skills and doubt

Students at Tulsa Tech are still learning bedside procedures on simulators before they perform them on patients, including nasogastric tube placement and urinary catheter insertion. (laerdal.com) Tulsa Tech’s health simulation program began in July 2020 as a way to replace part of clinical training for practical nursing students, according to Candace Shoopman, the school’s coordinator for health science simulation. The program now serves six adult cohorts totaling 96 students and was preparing to add a seventh cohort, with 15 simulation days built into training. (laerdal.com) The school’s current health programs also emphasize hands-on preparation before students enter the workplace. Tulsa Tech says its Medical Assisting program teaches direct patient-care tasks, while its Health Science Technology track gives high school students practice with foundational healthcare skills. (tulsatech.edu; tulsatech.edu) A nasogastric tube is a thin tube passed through the nose into the stomach, usually to remove stomach contents or deliver nutrition and medication. Because placement errors can harm patients, modern training stresses step-by-step practice and verification before the tube is used. (merckmanuals.com; bchsfoutreach.ucsf.edu) Urinary catheter insertion is another basic skill with infection risks if technique slips. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 15% to 25% of hospitalized patients receive urinary catheters, and about 75% of urinary tract infections acquired in hospitals are associated with a catheter. (cdc.gov) The same CDC guidance says catheters should be used only when needed, inserted with sterile equipment and germ-free technique, kept in a closed drainage system, and removed as soon as possible. A CDC training deck adds that clinicians inserting catheters should receive competency-based training and demonstrate that competency in practice. (cdc.gov; cdc.gov; cdc.gov) That is the gap simulation is meant to close. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality says simulation lets learners practice invasive or high-risk tasks without exposing patients to the mistakes of inexperienced clinicians, and it describes simulation as a key part of the patient safety movement. (ahrq.gov) Simulation has also become more formalized, not less. The International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning says its Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice were revised in 2025 and are intended to guide evidence-based simulation in education and clinical practice. (inacsl.org) Tulsa Tech’s own simulation partner framed the local program in the same terms: confidence, clinical judgment, and hands-on skill development before real patient care. That helps explain why schools still devote lab time to routine bedside procedures that can look simple on video but carry real safety and infection-control consequences at the bedside. (laerdal.com)