Kaleigh Ritz recently joined the emergency department at Bon Secours — Maryview Medical Center as a registered nurse. She loves her new career, and she’s excited to continue her medical training, thanks to donor support.

“I graduated from Longwood University. I had a very positive experience in the nurse externship program here. I knew I wanted to start my career at Maryview,” she says.

Part of Kaleigh’s on-the-job education includes training on educational manikins. Donor gifts helped supply the full-body patient simulator she can practice on. It mimics human anatomy and physiology to safely allow clinical skills training.

“Hands-on simulation with manikins is vital to improving patient outcomes,” Kaleigh says. “As a new nurse, I don’t have as much clinical experience to rely on. Repetitive hands-on training builds my confidence in my abilities. Being confident in what you are doing is extremely important at the bedside.”

Kaleigh says all the new nurses are grateful for the opportunity to work with the technology.

“Having an up-to-date manikin is so beneficial for all of us entering the medical field,” she says. “Simulations allow us to work together and put our skills and knowledge to the test. There are so many times that I can relate what I am doing now to training I did previously.”

Thanks to donors, nurses have access to state-of-the-art training and technology. It is just another way you are improving patient care.

“So many new nurses will have this same experience and look back feeling grateful for what they have learned.”