Steele Innovative Learning Center

Students Perfect Clinical Skills in the SILC

The Steele Innovative Learning Center (SILC) is a safe environment for acquiring, rehearsing and perfecting skills needed in clinical nursing practice. In the SILC, students integrate formal classroom learning with essential psychomotor skills.

To simulate clinical environments and enhance teaching, the SILC offers an array of tools allowing students to simulate nursing care ranging from basic skill acquisition to participation in complex, realistic scenarios designed to enhance higher-level clinical thinking and actions. We have three Sim Man™ manikins (human patient simulators) in individual critical care bays which are computer-controlled. The manikins have audible blood pressures (BPs), palpable pulses, and heart, lung and bowel sounds. The manikin's chest also rises and falls to simulate realistic breathing.

Three Virtual IV simulators assist students in mastering the technique of IV insertion. The computer simulators have realistic graphics and provide detailed, individualized feedback to the student at the end of each attempted case.

Full-time Instructor and Student Support

In the SILC, two full-time registered nurses assist clinical instructors with scheduled, structured lab times, as well as offering supervision and support to individual students and small groups.

Service to Tucson and Beyond

A valuable part of the College of Nursing, the SILC is also an important community resource, offering school tours and hosting national and international visitors. Additionally, the SILC is connected to Master Control in BioCommunications, giving the center real-time video conferencing capabilities which reach across the state of Arizona and beyond. This connectivity in turn allows the SILC to integrate with the Arizona Telemedicine Program statewide network.

Location

College of Nursing, second floor, rooms 250A-D and 275A-C

• 275 A - Stretchers
• 275 B - Beds with Mannequins
• 275 C - IV lab
• 250 - Glass Doors High Acuity