People of Georgian: Nursing professor energized by helping students in simulation labs

People of Georgian: Meet Len Lefaive

Often in the nursing simulation labs, students will say they feel like they’ve learned an incredible amount.

When a student says that, you feel like you could walk on air for a few minutes.

I don’t think there’s anything quite like that feeling. It energizes me to no end.

Teaching in Georgian’s nursing labs is really great. We have several simulation labs which have a high-tech focus, including high-fidelity patient simulators.

We’re able to engage the students in experiencing a simulated patient encounter where the patient could be having a heart attack in the morning, for instance, and then use that same patient simulator in the afternoon to showcase completely different symptoms such as breathing problems.

We can create these learning scenarios for students to experience in a very safe environment where if mistakes are made, we can look at them and learn from them.

As well, we have a maternal-child simulation lab with a simulator that delivers babies and simulators that act as the mom after delivery.

We also have a pediatric and neonates simulation room where we have small, high-fidelity baby simulators, up to a five-year-old child simulator.

I love teaching nursing students, and I also get inspiration from some of them.

You get to know them and hear a little bit of their stories – how hard they’re willing to work to pursue their goals and the obstacles they are working to overcome in pursing their education.

‘It’s almost like seeing your kids graduate’

So, then seeing them graduate is a highlight of working at Georgian.

I get such a charge out of seeing someone accomplish their goal after four years of putting in a ton of effort, at times they may have felt like they might not be able to make it, but they do and they keep going.

It’s almost like seeing your kids graduate.

There’s something about realizing that they’ve done a tremendous thing and you have this small part in it and that you may have helped them achieve their goals.

Len Lefaive, professor in Georgian’s BScN collaborative program.

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