Nicolet students work together in mental health crisis training exercise
For the Tomahawk Leader
RHINELANDER – A training exercise recently held at Nicolet College in Rhinelander gave students from several different academic areas the opportunity to work together to help an individual having a staged emergency.
Nicolet said about 60 individuals participated in or observed the exercise, including students and instructors from the college’s Criminal Justice, Emergency Medical Services, Nursing, Human Services, and Substance Use Disorder Counselor programs. Students from Rhinelander High School’s Raise Your Voice Club, which focuses on advocacy for mental health issues, were also in attendance.
“Students from the participating academic programs don’t really get to interact that much when they are on campus, so we wanted to create an exercise where they all had to work together in a professional capacity,” said Nicolet Nursing Instructor Dilya St. Louis, who led the coordination of the simulation. “After these students graduate and start their careers, it will be common for them to work with others from different professions. We wanted to give them that experience, to interact with each other and for all of them to practice the specialized skills they’ve learned in Nicolet labs and classrooms.”
The training scenario started with a call to 911 to alert authorities to man acting strangely on campus.
“Criminal Justice students responded to the scene to assess the situation and make initial contact with the individual in distress,” Nicolet stated. “After determining the individual was suicidal, armed with a knife, and intoxicated on alcohol and prescription drugs, the students responded by deescalating the situation, removing the knife, and safely securing the scene for EMS students to begin providing care.”
After stabilizing the now-patient, they transported him by ambulance to “Nicolet Hospital” in the Lakeside Center, where Nicolet Nursing students took over providing care.
The simulation ended after Human Services and Substance Use Disorder Counselor students and local professionals conducted their evaluation and determined a long-term care plan.
“At each stage of the scenario, students from one academic program had to coordinate and communicate with students from a different program each time the patient went to the next stage of the scenario,” St. Louis said. “Over the years, we’ve noticed that while the students have solid technical skills, there can be a skills gap in effective communication with others. We wanted to put them in a situation where they had to communicate with people outside of their profession, and I have to say they all did great. It got them out of their comfort zone, and they learned new skills.”
St. Louis added that it also helped get students a little more comfortable about having difficult conversations with patients.
“It can be difficult asking a patient if they were planning to commit suicide, if they wanted to kill themselves,” St. Louis said. “But that’s a very important piece of information to know in order to get them the best and most appropriate care possible.”
Second-semester Nursing student Michael Giudilli observed the entire exercise.
“Without a doubt it was an incredibly impactful experience for everyone involved,” he said. “What really stood out is how critically important effective communication is in situations like this and on so many different levels. It helps everyone respond appropriately to get to a positive outcome for the patient.
Funding for the mental health simulation was provided by the Wisconsin Northern Highland Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Nicolet said AHEC brought the idea for a rural simulation experience to Nicolet College in 2021. AHEC and Nicolet partnered on developing the curriculum for the program, including designing it as a multi-disciplinary team-based approach focusing on communication, and as an introduction to the social determinants of health.
“AHEC frequently partners with post-secondary institutions and community organizations to advance their mission of improving health equity in rural and underserved communities through education and training opportunities that aim to increase the diversity, distribution, and development of the healthcare workforce,” Nicolet stated.
For more information about career training opportunities at Nicolet College, visit www.nicoletcollege.edu or call the college at 715-365-4493.