By Amanda Respess 

N ursing students entering the darkened halls of the Simulation and Translational Research Center for “Trick-or-Treatment” last Friday were greeted by a zombie version of Florence Nightingale. 

The students traveled the halls in groups of four, tasked with solving their way out of macabre medical escape rooms during the annual Halloween-themed event at the Sim Center. 

“Trick-or-Treatment is a patient safety event,” explains Simulation Coordinator Tiffany Bell. “We look at reports and scores to help us gauge what we need to put into these simulations. This one is done in a fun environment.…They get to dress up. They get to have a good time, but also use their critical thinking skills, work as a team and find what they need to find.” 

Scenarios are shaped by patient safety performance priorities and cover skills such as allergy checks, medication safety, hand hygiene and respiratory-device selection. Students practice clinical judgment, foundational skills, teamwork and leadership, all while applying classroom learning. 

This year’s Trick-or-Treatment added aspects that are particularly timely. In the immersion suite – which allows students to interact with realistic, 360-degree projections – students encountered a measles patient. U.S. measles cases reached a 35-year high this month with 4,588 cases as of Oct. 22 (compared to a total of just 285 cases in 2024), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

“What I love about Trick-or-Treatment is getting to see all the students who come through. I love seeing them get to dress up and get their creativity going while they’re having this learning experience that is safe, but also really fun,” said Clinical Simulation Instructor Eleni Bonner. 

Bonner is not only an instructor in the School of Nursing, but also a student herself in the Healthcare Simulation Certificate program. GCSU’s simulation certificate is the only program of its kind in Georgia. 

“Healthcare simulation is this massive, growing field,” Bonner says, “So gaining all of this knowledge and behind the scenes information is so fitting for the role that I am in here at Georgia College.” 

The center combines life-like manikins, live actors known as standardized patients, immersive projections, scent effects and other didactics designed to provide realistic, low-risk practice for nursing students.

“Simulation allows for students to practice their skills without actually practicing on real people. Students interact with the manikins, start IVs on them, do chest compressions…all the typical stuff that you would do on a real person. But there’s no risk of harming a real person,” said Ryan Ferros, simulation technology operations specialist. 

Simulation and Moulage Specialist Patsy Hicks says collaboration is what makes Trick-or-Treatment so successful. 

“They have to work together. They have to be a team. It’s student driven,” Hicks said. “Yesterday we had students here decorating. They’re going to clean up today. The students in the rooms are the guides, so they’re using leadership skills. We’re building better nurses that are going to go out there and just be fantastic.”

Header Images: Nursing students solved their way out of four different medical escape rooms during Trick-or-Treatment on Oct. 23 at the GCSU Sim Center. (Photos and video by Chris Brown.)