Friends of Nursing: caring for the next generation of caregivers

Mount Marty is grateful this time of year to every friend of the university. We are especially grateful for the contributions to our Friends of Nursing fund. These contributions make a monumental impact on all our students and their future patients. This year, $60,000 from the Friends of Nursing fund was used to improve the education of our future health care workers.

"Nursing is a high-tech field," Vice President of Health Sciences and Chief Nursing Officer Danielle Pierotti, Ph.D., RN, said. "Simulation of procedures and patient experiences, using mannequins — actors — and virtual environments, are all very impactful learning experiences for the students, but also very costly. We are very grateful to everyone who invests in nursing education by giving to this fund. It makes a difference for everyone."

Friends of Nursing is a group comprised of health care supporters, alumni, friends of the university, donors and corporate partners. The purpose of the group is to build stronger relationships and partnerships among the Mount Marty nursing programs and their alumni, friends and corporate partners — both current and potential — through engagement opportunities. Contributions directed to Friends of Nursing provide critical resources and state-of-the-art equipment, ensuring our students receive the best education and training possible. 

All of Mount Marty's nursing programs utilize task trainers to practice skills and learn new techniques. These trainers range from fake arms that provide blood return for IV starts, to fake knees used for injections or the suture of open wounds, to life-like spinal columns used to practice lumbar punctures or epidurals.

Both the undergraduate nursing program and doctoral nurse anesthesia program students benefit from learning from high-tech mannequins that range in age from newborns to adults. Students use these mannequins to practice nursing skills, bedside manner, airway placement and anesthesia procedures, and the treatment of specific illnesses or incidents. One of the mannequins utilized in the undergraduate nursing program can even simulate childbirth.

Taya Pawlowski '25, undergraduate nursing student, said, "Doing simulation labs prepares you for those big life events, like walking in on a stroke or coding patient. It gives you room to fail and learn." Pawlowski said that interacting with patients in these high-stakes situations can be daunting your first time, and that having these simulation experiences helps students learn what needs to happen without panic. "It's getting practice without being in the direct patient setting, and you can lean on your classmates and teachers and talk through what should or shouldn't happen or what was missed."

Pawlowski added that it is nice to have newborn, child and adult mannequins to learn from and to help prepare for those challenging situations, as well as for fundamental nursing skills. "Being able to put IVs in life-like arms and get drawback or put a foley catheter in and see drainage, it's not just words on a paper. It's actual experiences you get to learn from."

Recently, the nurse anesthesia program purchased a dual-view glidescope for intubation and an ultrasound arterial line trainer with funds from Friends of Nursing. This new equipment enhances the lab experience and broadens students' skill sets. The lab also purchased highly advanced human patient simulators with conversational artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and compatibility with all routine anesthesia equipment. These simulators provide a life-like patient experience for students to run through each stage of the surgery process, from preoperative interviews to intraoperative procedures to postoperative care.

Emma Kirby '27 said, "As a nurse anesthesia student, having access to the new pediatric and adult AI mannequins has been such a game changer. They simulate the closest experience to a real human being, which gives us a better understanding of what things will feel like in clinicals. Even something as simple as getting the feel for the glidescope or practicing the technique of using intubating tools becomes so much easier to grasp when you've had that realistic, hands-on practice first. Having this technology helps build our confidence, fine-tunes our technical skills, and allows us to focus on patient safety as our number one priority. These resources bridge the gap between classroom learning and clinical practice in a way that truly sets us up for success."

For a few years now, the nurse anesthesia program has also been using virtual reality (VR) to simulate cases in the operating room. Now, the undergraduate nursing program, using funds from Friends of Nursing, has also purchased VR headsets to simulate the clinical setting and various skills — for example, placing foley catheters, working with sterile fields, charting and even working with other students in a multiplayer setting. Assistant Professor of Nursing Natalie Board, Ed.D, MSN, RN, is leading the implementation of VR simulation into the nursing curriculum. "VR offers an innovative and immersive approach to enhancing student learning and developing critical thinking skills," Board said. "Studies have shown that VR-based education can be just as effective as traditional, in-person learning. At Mount Marty, we are committed to integrating VR experiences as a powerful supplement to our existing classroom, laboratory, simulation and clinical environments. Through this technology, faculty can immerse students in critical clinical scenarios they may not otherwise encounter during their clinical rotations. These experiences provide invaluable learning opportunities while fostering greater confidence, competence and self-efficacy among our students." 

Currently, Mount Marty is developing a postgraduate certification for nurse practitioners in emergency care. Pierotti explained, "We need to invest in the nurse practitioners serving the rural and frontier communities. New equipment — for example, ultrasound machines and new task trainers for performing lumbar punctures, central line placements, and airway management — will be needed to provide practice for the nurse practitioners preparing to serve people in an emergency room."

Supporters of Friends of Nursing "are critical," Pierotti said. "Nursing is a team sport. We need each other for support, guidance, mentoring and development. The alumni who choose to support the Friends of Nursing Fund are making a direct impact on their future nursing colleagues, and we are grateful."

If you are interested in touring our simulation labs or trying out the virtual reality equipment, please reach out to Pierotti. "We are excited to share our teaching with all our supporters," Pierotti said.

To become a Friend of Nursing, click here. To make a donation to the Friends of Nursing fund, click here.

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About Mount Marty University

Founded in 1936 by the Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery, Mount Marty University is South Dakota's only Catholic, Benedictine institution of higher education. Located along the bluffs of the Missouri River in Yankton, with additional locations in Watertown and Sioux Falls, Mount Marty offers undergraduate and graduate degrees focusing on student and alumni success in high-demand fields such as health sciences, education, criminal justice, business, accounting, recreation management, and more. A community of learners in the Benedictine tradition, Mount Marty emphasizes academic excellence and develops well-rounded students with intellectual competence, professional and personal skills and moral, spiritual and social values. To learn more, visit mountmarty.edu.