October 21, 2016By Lance Baily

Poverty Simulation Helps Shape Future Healthcare Professionals

Has your nursing program considered running a poverty simulation? Help your healthcare learners not only see the benefits of simulation outside the lab context, but also better understand the difficulties faced by less fortunate members of your community. Here’s how NDSU is using simulation to teach their nursing students about poverty:

Students at the NDSU School of Nursing at Sanford Health in Bismarck will get a glimpse into how a family in poverty navigates the complexities of life. More than 60 senior nursing students are scheduled to take part in a poverty simulation experience at Bismarck State College.



During the simulation, the nursing students will role-play the lives of low-income families, from single parents trying to care for their children to senior citizens trying to maintain their self-sufficiency on Social Security. The task of each family is to provide food, shelter and other basic necessities while interacting with various community resources.


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Brittney Mueller, simulation coordinator at NDSU School of Nursing at Sanford Health, said the goal is to enable participants to view poverty from different angles and begin to understand what life is like with a shortage of money over an extended period of time. “As nurses embark on their careers, they will one day work with patients facing difficult decisions on a regular basis,” said Mueller. “Deciding whether to buy food or pay for health care is something that some people may face on a monthly basis.


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