Community Corner

New Botsford Hospital Opens Skills Lab

Residents, nurses and others hone their IV, suturing and other skills to improve patient outcomes.

A new lab is filled with sections of skin and body parts—but not from actual humans.

The Ana and Raimundo Pastor, D.O., Clinical Skills Laboratory, located in the Zieger Administration & Education Building, offers first-year residents, nurses and nursing students, emergency medical workers and others the opportunity to practice techniques from suturing skin to inserting an intravenous (IV) needle on synthetic simulations of body parts.

"This has been a vision of mine for three years," Director of Medical Education Dr. Vance Powell said.

Find out what's happening in Farmington-Farmington Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The lab was made possible through a donation from Raimundo Pastor, D.O., a general surgeon at Botsford, and from Botsford’s medical staff. According to hospital spokeswoman Beth Montalvo, the cost to create the lab was about $100,000.

Powell said protocols have been developed to ensure those who go through the lab acquire the necessary skills. Hospital staff will be able to identify online those who successfully complete the training and are credentialed in a particular procedure.

Find out what's happening in Farmington-Farmington Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Nursing manager Cheryl Thomas, R.N., said in addition to training in routine skills, the lab offers the opportunity to become familiar with rare techniques.

"You can actually put an IV into (a patient's) bone," she said. "With the Skills Lab, we can make more people aware of this rare procedure and have more people competent with it."

Thomas explained that the hospital has an IV team, so physicians rarely have to set up an intravenous line. But they may move on to another hospital where they'll need the skill. The hospital has always done training, she added, but the Skills Lab will bring more consistency to those efforts.

Registered nurse Terri Maple, who is a member of the hospital's IV team, said the training "will improve patient safety and patient outcomes." Powell believes it will help cut down the time patients spend under anesthetic in the operating room as well.

He pointed out that skills training can make critical procedures almost "second nature." That can make all the difference in the world for a patient, particularly those who need intubation to help them breathe.

"When you're in a crisis, you don't have a lot of time," he said. "It takes about eight minutes of anoxia (low oxygen) to cause brain damage. When you're in a hurry, you want to be able to just do it."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Farmington-Farmington Hills