12 Small Simulation Tools That Transform Nursing Skills Labs
This article introduces 12 small simulation tools that help nursing students develop essential clinical skills through hands-on practice in nursing labs. Each tool enhances confidence, accuracy, and readiness for real-world medical scenarios.
What you’ll learn:
- How small simulation tools improve practical nursing education
- The role of pads, manikins, and models in teaching wound care and injections
- Why repetition builds precision and confidence in students
- Essential tools like suture pads, IV arm kits, and catheterization trainers
- How realistic materials and reusable designs support cost-effective training
- The importance of integrating these tools into comprehensive skills labs
There is a growing demand for qualified nurses worldwide. More people are studying to become nurses than ever before, and yet, the demand remains high for experienced nurses with specialized skills. Nursing and medical schools have been striving to meet this demand by developing innovative teaching methods for their nursing students. That way, those students will graduate with the necessary skills to fill vacant nursing positions in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities worldwide.
Small Simulation Training Tools in Nursing Skills Laboratories
Nursing skills laboratories are designed to enhance the skills of nursing students. Most schools will include high-fidelity manikins in their laboratories because they simulate real-life human patients and their reactions to treatment. However, the true educational impact of nursing skills labs stems from the smaller, more mobile simulation tools integrated into them.
Small Simulation tools help teach students about the procedures they will perform repeatedly, such as wound care, IV insertions, and injections. The more that students practice using these tools, the easier it will be to remember the critical steps of each nursing procedure.
Below are the top 12 small simulation tools that can transform your nursing skills laboratories to enhance student learning.
1) Suture/Staple Pad
Removing sutures and staples from a patient’s skin is a common nursing task. Nurses cannot afford to make a mistake during this process because they could easily injure or infect a patient.
The Suture/Staple Pad is a realistic wound closure simulator designed to train nursing students in the proper removal of sutures and staples from patients. The pad features a realistic skin-like texture made from durable silicone material. One side of the pad has four staples, and the other side has four sutures. Students can use this tool to practice their suture and staple-removal techniques until they perfect them.
2) Simulation Injection Pad
Nurses will administer medicinal injections to patients every day they are on the job. If a nursing student wants to make meaningful progress in their studies, they must master the most common injection techniques to penetrate the different layers of skin and muscle.
The Simulation Injection Pad is a realistic skin-like pad containing three simulated skin and muscle layers made from durable silicone material. Nursing students can use it to practice performing intradermal, subcutaneous, and intramuscular injections on a single simulation pad. The best part is that the material is self-healing silicone, allowing the same pads to be used repeatedly.
3) IV Practice Arm Kit
Nurses often insert intravenous (IV) lines into a patient's veins or bladder to extract blood or fluids. Likewise, they may also administer medication and fluids through IV lines if the patient requires that treatment.
An IV Practice Arm Kit contains all the necessary small simulation tools and accessories for practicing drawing blood, placing catheters, and extracting fluids. The kit comprises IV lines, syringes, needles, and a simulated manikin arm with realistic superficial veins, such as basilic, antecubital, dorsal metacarpal, and cephalic veins. Students can practice IV insertions and treatments hundreds of times using the arm and tools included in the kit.
4) Abscess Incision Drainage Pad
Wounded skin can lead to infections and abscesses, which are swollen bodily tissues filled with pus. Nurses are often tasked with draining pus from an infected cyst or abscess. One mistake could be damaging to the patient’s health and well-being.
An Abscess Incision Drainage Pad simulates the process of incising and draining an abscess on the skin. The pad is a realistic replica of infected, swollen tissue with simulated pus inside it. The high-quality silicone material closely resembles the texture and appearance of real abscesses. Nursing students can receive valuable practice in draining abscesses during training with the abscess incision drainage pad.
5) Artificial Blood
Nursing students must grow accustomed to seeing blood. That is why every realistic nursing simulation laboratory should be fully stocked with artificial blood to use with simulation manikins and body parts, such as simulation arms for IV training.
Artificial Blood is a realistic simulation fluid formulated to resemble the color and texture of human blood. It is ideal for incorporating into common clinical training scenarios for nursing students, such as IV insertion, venipuncture, phlebotomy, and wound care. Getting your students accustomed to seeing a blood-like fluid will help them develop the confidence to work with real blood in the future.
6) Medical Silicone Suture Pad
Open wounds and surgical incisions require sutures to close them and hold the skin together, preventing infection. All nurses and medical professionals must be familiar with this procedure for emergency care purposes.
A Medical Silicone Suture Pad is a silicone pad with realistic incisions in the skin-like material. Your nursing students can practice their suturing skills on this pad by using stitches to close the various open wounds. There are thin horizontal wounds, circular wounds, wider wounds, and so on. Since good suturing requires precision, students can repeatedly practice their suturing techniques on this pad until they achieve the desired results. Then, they will have the confidence to suture a real person’s open wound.
7) Urinary Catheterization Trainer
Urinary catheterization is a critical medical procedure that involves inserting a catheter into the bladder to drain urine. Patients need this procedure when they suffer from bladder infections or other medical issues that prevent them from urinating naturally.
A Urinary Catheterization Trainer is a dual-sex urinary catheterization simulator that accurately replicates both male and female anatomy. Nursing students can use the trainer to practice catheter insertions and urinary extractions on male and female patients. Repeated practice with a trainer will give students more confidence in performing this treatment. That will reduce the risk of catheter-based infections when students eventually work with real patients.
8) Simulation Medication
Nurses frequently deal with tasks such as retrieving, sorting, and administering medication to patients. These tasks require nurses to become proficient at reading medication labels, accurately measuring medication dosages, and administering the proper dosages to patients.
Simulation medication is a non-active vial, ampule, or oral medication with realistic label information and packaging. It is basically a placebo drug consisting of nothing more than distilled water. Nursing students can practice preparing and administering simulated medication to manikins, simulation patients, or real human patients without any risk of harm.
9) Elastic or Stretch Gauze Bandages
When a nurse or medical professional finishes suturing or treating a patient’s wound, they typically wrap it with a gauze bandage to protect the site, keeping it clean and uninfected. The gauze bandage is made from a non-linting and latex-free material, such as cotton, linen, or another highly absorbent material.
An excess supply of gauze bandages should be in every nursing laboratory. Nursing students need to become experts at wrapping wound sites with gauze bandages. They may need to practice wrapping dozens or even hundreds of wounds before becoming proficient and confident in the technique.
10) Blood Pressure Cuff
Most patients receive blood pressure readings before they see their doctors. Nurses are typically the ones tasked with measuring blood pressure. Doctors use these blood pressure readings to diagnose the conditions and symptoms of their patients accurately.
A Blood Pressure Cuff is one of the most common simulation tools you will ever find in a nursing laboratory. Students need to know how to strap the blood pressure cuff to a patient’s arm to take an accurate reading of their blood pressure. They can practice this on simulation arms or real human arms, as it is nearly impossible to accidentally hurt a patient with a blood pressure cuff.
11) Stethoscope
Stethoscopes are critical physical examination tools for every nursing laboratory or medical facility. Nurses and doctors use stethoscopes to listen to a patient’s heartbeat, bowel sounds, and lung sounds. By observing the rate and rhythm of these sounds, medical professionals can diagnose potential health issues in the patient.
Most first-year nursing students will get practice using stethoscopes on manikins and simulated human patients. Since stethoscopes are harmless to patients, nursing students can easily practice using them on anyone in any location.
12) 3M Avagard CHG Nail Cleaner
When nurses and doctors work on patients in examination or surgical rooms, they must have clean nails before they begin. That is why they will use a product like 3M Avagard CHG Nail Cleaner for hand and nail antisepsis. This product is formulated to remove all debris, dirt, and microorganisms from under the fingernails, ensuring patients don’t get infected.
Nursing students should develop the habit of regularly sterilizing their hands and nails. Adding this nail cleaner to your nursing skills laboratory will help ensure that your students develop this habit for the benefit of their future patients.
Get the Best Small Simulation Tools Today!
Pristine Medical is a top-rated supplier of medical accessories for medical and nursing schools worldwide. You can find a wide range of small simulation tools suitable for improving student performance in your nursing skills laboratory.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Why focus on small simulation tools in a nursing skills lab instead of only using high-fidelity manikins?
The article notes that, while many labs include high-fidelity manikins, the true educational impact comes from the smaller, mobile tools. These tools let students repeatedly practice core procedures—wound care, IV insertions, injections—so the critical steps become second nature.
2. What nursing procedures do these small tools specifically help students master?
3. What makes the Simulation Injection Pad effective for multi-layer injection practice?
4. What’s included in an IV Practice Arm Kit, and which veins can students practice on?
The kit includes a simulated manikin arm, IV lines, syringes, and needles. The arm features realistic superficial veins—basilic, antecubital, dorsal metacarpal, and cephalic—so learners can practice blood draws, catheter placement, and fluid extraction many times.
5. What is “simulation medication,” and why is it used in training?
It’s a non-active medication (vial, ampule, or oral) with realistic labels and packaging—essentially distilled water. Because it’s inactive, students can safely practice retrieving, measuring, labeling, and administering doses to manikins, simulation patients, or even real humans without risk of harm.