{"id":24155,"date":"2025-04-22T11:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T15:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/?p=24155"},"modified":"2025-04-22T11:00:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T15:00:54","slug":"esu-health-sciences-and-theatre-students-participate-in-interactive-patient-care-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/esu-health-sciences-and-theatre-students-participate-in-interactive-patient-care-exercise\/","title":{"rendered":"ESU Health Sciences and Theatre Students Participate in Interactive Patient Care Exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"

East Stroudsburg University students majoring in nursing<\/a> and exercise science<\/a> got a glimpse into the unpredictability of patient care during a role playing exercise that saw theatre<\/a> majors pose as ailing victims, concerned family members and unruly partners.<\/p>\n

In addition to providing a unique setting for theatre majors to hone their craft, the interdisciplinary exercise on April 2 gave senior nursing students and exercise science graduate students valuable experience in advanced communication, problem solving and use of soft skills like patience and understanding, said Professor of Exercise Science and Exercise Science Department Chair Shala Davis, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole purpose is to get these students primed and ready to go so that when they get out there into their careers, they\u2019ve already had exposure to these nuances and can draw on a past experience to help them navigate through potential challenges,\u201d Dr. Davis said.<\/p>\n

Much like preparation for a traditional production, theatre students were assigned roles, given scripts and participated in a walkthrough.<\/p>\n

Scenes lasted 10-15 minutes and featured a nursing or exercise science student as the healthcare professional, and two theatre students playing the patient and someone with a connection to the patient.<\/p>\n

Only the theatre students knew what the scene would entail, forcing participants like Joey Stofanak to think on their feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helped me tap into the same mindset you want to keep when you\u2019re out there working,\u201d said Stofanak, an exercise science graduate student from Bethlehem, Pa. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to get too outside of yourself. You want to be mindful that the patient\u2019s needs come first. If they give me a difficult time, that\u2019s not something I should be taking personally because they\u2019ve just gone through a traumatic experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stofanak said the experience differed from the students\u2019 typical clinical experiences because in those situations, the clinician supervising them would often step in if a patient became disruptive or unstable.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not really sure if you know how to handle that when the pressure\u2019s on you,\u201d he said. \u201cSo being able to work with real-world scenarios and put in some practice really helped grow my confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian De Los Santos, a sophomore majoring in theatre and psychology from Pocono Farms, Pa., played the role of a patient\u2019s half-brother and was encouraged to pressure the attending student with questions and demands.<\/p>\n

De Los Santos said he enjoyed the opportunity to explore his versatility while supporting fellow Warriors who are training for careers in an important profession.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to help these new professionals advance in life by showing them that not every patient will be black and white in behavior or age,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery patient is different, and they need to know what to do in any case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like De Los Santos, Kaylene Vasquez jumped at the opportunity to act in a role that was unlike any other she\u2019s held before.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it gives me more experience in the career field of my choice then I\u2019m almost always more than interested, but it was also a great learning experience for the students who participated in the simulation,\u201d said Vasquez, a sophomore theatre major from the Bronx, NY. \u201cIt was truly beautiful being able to work together even though our fields of study are pretty different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scenes were recorded and will be reviewed so students can pinpoint things they did well or need to improve upon, Davis said. She hopes it will be the first of many similar exercises to come, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s three departments collaborating in something that\u2019s cutting edge and innovating,\u201d Davis said. \u201cIt\u2019s really what ESU is all about: getting students prepared to go out and make an impact in their jobs and to do it with the best skills we can give them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exercise was held on-campus in ESU\u2019s Dale and Frances Hughes Foundation Community Health Education and Simulation Center. Located in the DeNike Center for Human Services, it provides hands-on training and inter-professional practice opportunities for students and local healthcare organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ESU students majoring in nursing and exercise science got a glimpse into the unpredictability of patient care during a role playing exercise that saw theatre majors pose as ailing victims, concerned family members and unruly partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":24158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[143,42,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news-release","category-slider"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24155"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24155"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24159,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24155\/revisions\/24159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}