Health Professions Learning Center
The HEALTH PROFESSIONS LEARNING CENTER (HPLC) is designed to facilitate the simulation-based learning needs of Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences. All nursing students receive instruction and participate throughout their program of study. Inter-professional education (IPE) activities, other schools and departments of Texas Christian University (TCU), and co-sponsored activities also occur throughout the year.
- Mission: To foster practice-readiness through experiential learning.
- Vision: To be a highly regarded resource for immersive learning in the health care community.
- Values: Integrity, Collaboration, Relevance, and Innovation
A Health Professions Learning Center is an essential part of modern healthcare education, bridging the gap between theory and real-world practice.
The HPLC is located on the second and third floors of the Annie Richardson Bass Building on the TCU campus.
- Enhance Clinical Competence: By providing varied simulation opportunities to reinforce student’s classroom/concepts nursing education in a supervised and risk-free environment.
- Improve Patient Safety: Students can learn from their experiences as well as the experiences of their peers in a safe but autonomous fashion combining their knowledge base, skills and critical thinking into real life scenarios.
- Foster Confidence and Teamwork: Especially through interprofessional simulations.
- Support Various Levels of Healthcare Education: Used for continuing education, certification, and skills for practicing professionals to promote practice readiness. This includes undergraduate as well as graduate learning opportunities.
1. Simulation Labs
Spaces include acute hospital settings and ambulatory clinic exam rooms. Equipped
with high-fidelity manikins and task trainers to replicate real-life patient care.
These labs allow practice in:
- Mock Code Scenarios including Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
- Medical/Surgical Patient Care Scenarios
- Maternal/Neonate/Pediatric Scenarios
- Graduate Nursing On Campus Intensives including graduate level assessment, skills & procedures.
2. Basic Care Labs
These are realistic replicas of hospital or clinic exam rooms where learners can practice:
- Acquisition of patient health history
- Patient Communication
- Physical assessments
- Basic procedures like medication administration, injections and IV therapy.
3. Standardized Patient Program
Trained actors portray patients with specific conditions as well as family members
to help learners develop diagnostic reasoning, bedside manner, and interpersonal communication.
4. Interprofessional Education (IPE) Spaces
Designed to promote collaboration among students from different health disciplines
(e.g., medicine, nursing, pharmacy), these spaces foster teamwork and coordinated
care.
5. Control and Debrief Rooms
Behind-the-scenes control rooms allow faculty and staff to facilitate simulations,
observe learners through live and recorded video feeds, and manage scenarios in real
time. Debriefing rooms are used for pre-simulation and post-simulation discussions,
where students prepare, plan and review their patient care scenarios and receive feedback
as well as peer review.
6. Technology Integration
Includes:
- Audio/video recording for review and assessment
- Electronic health record (EHR) software
- Augmented/virtual reality modules for anatomical learning opportunities