Demonstrating that safety is always top of mind for medical professionals, Shoreline’s nursing students recently participated in a friendly competition to test their powers of observation and knowledge of safety.
Shoreline Community College Association of Nursing Students (SCCANS) organized the event, which was staged in a nursing learning lab this past Feb. 27-28. SCCANS set up a mock hospital room rife with 31 safety infractions and challenged students and faculty to identify as many violations as possible. Anyone able to identify at least 14 infractions was entered into a drawing for prizes.
The hospital room safety puzzle was inspired by the theme of last year’s National Nurses Week, “A Culture of Safety.” SCAANS hosted a similar competition as part of 2016’s National Nurses Week, and it was so popular they decided to do it again this year.
“It’s a fun way for students to test their knowledge and observational skills,” said Becky Alderson, co-president of SCAANS. “We wanted it to be accessible to students in their first quarters and challenging to students in their final quarter, so we included infractions covering a range of difficulty levels.”
Twenty-eight students participated in the event, competing for two prizes: a stethoscope and a paid registration to the Nursing Students of Washington State Convention. The prizes were donated by the nursing staff and faculty.
“Nursing students are a tight knit community,” said Alderson, “and this was a fun way to drum up a little friendly competition while also reminding ourselves that safety is first.”