Archive for the ‘General’ Category

“I’m feeling much better now,” said ‘Otto,’ the new human patient simulator. Western’s nursing department recently purchased a new human patient simulator tool. On March 25, the department held an open house to showcase the learning tools and the skills of the students in the department.

Several prospective nursing students attended the nursing open house in which the students displayed their knowledge on the department’s practice patients including the newest and most expensive Otto.

Otto, the latest tool in the nursing department’s tool belt, is a mannequin that is able to replicate real life patient situations. According to the brochure, Otto is able to run 60 different preprogrammed, simulated clinical experiences with 30 different preprogrammed patient profiles.

The newest HPS also comes with programs so that the proctor is able to write their own clinical situations and manipulate preexisting programs even while the simulation is running.

Otto is also able to perform a variety of bodily functions such as seizing, blinking, and even responding to meds, said Roger Voelkel, RN, Assistant Professor.
Voelkel said that while Otto is the newest he is not the only HPS in the nursing department. The department has a wide variety of simulators including an intensive care patient, an infant, and a woman named Noelle who is capable of giving birth.

Breanna Allison practices nursing procedures on Otto, the nursing departments new human patient simulator. Photo | Robin Gaan

The cost of these tools is well warranted with all that they are able to accomplish.

“Applied learning is a hallmark of Missouri Western,” O’Connor said. “Not only do they teach valuable skills to the students but it also instills them with confidence.”

With these HPS, students are able to see how their actions affect the patient without any harm coming to a real person.

Suzanne Von Behren, a senior nursing student agrees with O’Connor.

“It’s more real (than the others) and gives you feedback just like a real patient would,” she said.

Von Behren was in charge of showcasing Otto at the open house running a simulation where the mannequin simulated breathing problems. Von Behren was able to get Otto’s oxygen level to a healthy and normal level prompting the HPS to thank her claiming he was feeling much better.

Stemming from a slang term coined in 1915 in Chicago, Illinois, the musical genre of “Jazz” has revolutionized the way popular music is written for over 100 years. Forming its own nationwide sub-cultures, Jazz began with roots from the Southern states, eventually incorporating sounds from West Africa and Europe.

On Saturday, Feb. 13, Missouri Western will be celebrating this movement in the Potter Hall Theater by holding its fourth Annual Jazz Festival. The festival will highlight eight middle school and high school bands during this day long event. This is a competition free event, although the performances will be critiqued.

Bob Long, director of jazz studies and coordinator of woodwinds, feels that this is a better approach to education and improvement than a competition.

‘’The festival’s main focus is jazz education,’’ Long said. ‘’It’s a way for students and jazz programs to receive constructive criticism on ways to improve. It brings people on campus and exposes what we have to offer here.”

The schools featured are: Benton High School, Central High School, Harrisonville High School, Park Hill High School, Smith-Cotton High School, Tina-Avalon Middle School and Winnetonka High School. The event will come to a close at 5 p.m. with a performance by Western’s own Jazz lab band. Missouri Western Sophomore Wesley Enyeart, who will be performing at the festival and has been playing for ten years, expresses his hopes for the event.

“I hope to do well and show that not only is jazz a complicated music style but it can also be fun and expressive,” Enyeart said. “I think Missouri Western choose to be in it because it is a bettering experience. The more you play, the better you get.”

Make sure to stop by and support these local musical education programs as they learn, mature and gain experience all while playing some enjoyable swingin’ music.

For the first time since Missouri Western’s inaugural women’s soccer season, the Griffons beat the Washburn Lady Blues 3-0 and clinched their first conference victory.
Missouri Western came out firing, taking six shots in the first half. Freshman Abby Widrig scored the Griffon’s first goal and sent the team into halftime up 1-0.

The Griffons didn’t let up during the second half. Widrig scored one more goal to put Western up 2-0, and junior Jessica Martin sealed the victory with one more goal to finish the game 3-0.

Western’s tough defense was a big factor in the victory.

“We defended really well,” head coach Jeff Hansen said. “I think Washburn had the ability to score goals and, so to shut out that team is pretty impressive. There are other teams in the conference that haven’t done it.”

Junior Mary Ohm agreed that the Griffon’s ability to pressure the Lady Blues helped them come out with the win.

“We came out firing right away and we put a lot of high pressure on them,” Ohm said. “I think they were a little panicky with the ball, so our high pressure allowed us to get some chances, and when we did get those chances, we were able to finish all of them.”

Finishing has been a challenge for the Griffons all year, and the fact that the team was able to capitalize on the opportunities given to them was a big step in the right direction.

“When we had chances to score, we took care of them,” Martin said. “We made the best of them, and we actually put the ball in the back of the net.”

Missouri Western had lost their home opener to Emporia State just two days before playing Washburn. According to Hansen, the ability of the team to bounce back from that tough loss was one of the most pleasing aspects of the weekend.

“It was good to see them respond that way,” Hansen said. “I think it tells us a lot about deep inside what kind of team we are. We can be that team that fights back from bad losses to win a game. So for them to play with confidence like they did on Saturday was great. We know that when we do things well we can be a great team.”

According to Martin, it felt great for the Griffons to be able to upset the Lady Blues on their home turf.
“It felt really good to win a home game, and it felt really good to beat a team that people don’t expect us to beat,” Martin said.

Missouri Western now improves to 1-3 in the MIAA and 3-5 overall. The Griffons play their next home game Thursday, Sept. 24 against the rival Northwest Bearcats. After already playing the Bearcats on their field once and losing, Missouri Western is looking for revenge.

“We have some changes that we’ve put together not specifically for Northwest but just that I think have made us a better team in the past week,” Hansen said. “So we’ll have that. We’re playing on the turf at home now so that helps.”

Ohm agreed and hopes that the Griffons can get even.

“Hopefully, since we lost last time, we’ll be more fired up to play them and want some revenge,” Ohm said.

Photo | Matthew Fowler

Ordinary objects on campus may appear to be harmless but could be harboring harmful bacteria that students are unknowingly spreading from student to student.

Do you wash your hands every time you sneeze, use a keyboard, touch a doorknob or shake hands? Do you say no to sharing a drink or snack with someone, even a friend? Most people say no to one or more of these actions. However, the problem lies in not completing these very things on an every day basis.

For students, it’s hard to stop every time we come in contact with germs. Blake Thorne, a sophomore at Missouri Western, admits that while he does try to exercise good hygiene, he could easily do more to protect himself against germs.

“I could wash my hands more but that would require leaving class,” Thorne said.
Many students admit that it’s just inconvenient to practice a lot of the good hygiene rules while also going through a busy day of college.
It is important to wash hands with hot water and lather them thoroughly with soap. Slowly count to thirty to completely clean hands of germs.

Campus health officials are working to make our lives more germ-free. Passing out free hand sanitizers to all students is just one of the steps they’ve taken this year to help influence students to take care of themselves and prevent diseases.

Besides using hand sanitizer after touching keyboards and door knobs, there are plenty of ways to prevent diseases and germs in your life. For example, steer clear of touching public toilet stools and make sure to wash your hands thoroughly even if you’ve used hand sanitizer numerous times.

Another easy way to fend off the flu during flu season is to eat as healthy as possible and drink enough water. Making sure your body obtains plenty of vitamins and minerals will help it fend off germs naturally and keep you energetic. Josh Holaday, Missouri Western senior, said your diet has a lot to do with warding of sickness.

“Taking vitamin C helps your immune system and helps to prevent illness,” Holaday said.

Other than preventing germs in your own life, there are ways you can work to stop spreading more germs. This year, teachers are working harder with students to help them make up work so that students can stay home when they’re sick. Cough in your sleeve, carry your own tissues with you so you always have them handy and don’t share food with others even if you don’t feel sick at the moment.

Kari Teschner, a nursing student at Missouri Western, shared some of the knowledge she’s acquired in nursing classes so far.

“I know everybody does it, but after learning how many bacteria are spread when you share food and drinks with your friend, I definitely won’t do it anymore.” Teschner said. “I’ve always been somewhat of a germ freak, but now that we’re learning more in class about MRSA (staph infection) and the swine flu, I’ve become even stricter about taking care of myself and trying to stay away from these two things.”

The flu season has spread so much it feels like there’s never a time when we are not in the middle of a flu season scare. But we can easily protect ourselves from obtaining germs and decrease the risk of spreading more germs and diseases to others.