School of Health

As learners advance, they work with full‑body patient simulators that can breathe, talk, show vital‑sign changes, and react to treatments. The manikins range from premature newborns to infants, children, adults, and seniors, giving students realistic practice with the full spectrum of patients they’ll encounter in their careers, and helping them progress from basic tasks to managing more realistic patient situations.

• Basic care manikins help students practice hygiene, mobility, positioning, feeding, vital-sign checks, and everyday patient-care tasks.
• Interactive assessment manikins let students observe and respond to changing vital signs, provide oxygen therapy, give medications, and carry out more detailed assessments.
• Maternal-care patient simulators support training in pregnancy, labour, postpartum care, and emergency situations involving parents and newborns.
• Full-body responsive manikins can mimic breathing problems, heart issues, and sudden changes in condition, helping students learn to communicate, make decisions, and work as a team during urgent or complex scenarios.

These simulators are used across health programs to help students learn communication, decision‑making, and teamwork in safe, realistic scenarios. NWP’s investment in this equipment ensures students get hands‑on practice that builds confidence and prepares them for real clinical environments.

The Health Education Centre features four fully equipped simulation rooms, each with a connected control room and a dedicated debriefing space designed to support reflective learning.

Within these spaces, students take part in:

• Realistic patient-care scenarios
• Team‑based exercises with other health programs
• Practice for communication and handoffs between providers
• Guided debriefs to reflect on what went well and what to improve

These environments replicate hospital and community care settings, allowing learners to practice teamwork, problem-solving, and clinical reasoning in spaces that closely mirror real healthcare workplaces.

In the PCP and EMR programs, simulation also plays a key role in helping students meet national training requirements.

Students use:

• CPR feedback devices during Basic Life Support and related certifications
• Trauma and airway task trainers for required emergency-care certifications
• Scenario‑based manikins to demonstrate assessment, treatment, and communication skills under pressure

EMR students complete about 200 hours of simulation, while PCP students complete over 400 hours, ensuring they are well-practiced before entering clinical or ambulance placements.

Beyond classroom and lab-based learning, NWP also participates in large-scale community simulations, such as the upcoming Multi-Agency Mass Casualty Training Event on April 28.

This scheduled training exercise involves:

• Local first-response agencies
• More than 100 participants
• Volunteer patients and community partners
• Paramedicine and nursing students working alongside industry professionals

Mass casualty training events simulate a very real-world emergency scenario. The goal is to provide an immersive, high-pressure environment where learners and responders can practice mass-casualty management, strengthen communication, and coordinate effectively across multiple agencies.