About the Simulator
The
Life
/
form
®
Intramuscular Injection
Simulator is designed to provide
students with the visual and tactile
experience needed to learn intra-
muscular injection techniques. This
simulator has landmarks that can be
palpated so that the various injec-
tion techniques can be practiced.
Unique design and construction give
students the opportunity to visualize
underlying structures and quickly
learn proper injection procedures.
Internal Structure
As with all
Life
/
form
®
replicas
and simulators, the Intramuscular
Injection Simulator is extremely real-
istic. Skin and muscle textures, and
bone shape and position closely
resemble a live patient. As a result,
perforation of the tissue with a
needle duplicates the sensation of
administering an actual injection.
A simulated bony structure is
embedded in the torso and repre-
sents the superior end of the femur,
or greater trochanter; the posterior
superior and anterior superior iliac
spines; and the sacrum. Bones are
positioned in a way that students
are able to visualize and palpate
these anatomical landmarks in order
to identify the gluteal injection sites.
A section of the upper, outer quad-
rant of the left gluteal area is cut
away to allow students to visualize
the underlying structures. The glu-
teus medius and gluteus maximus
muscles, sciatic nerve, and vascular
structures are clearly shown.
Some students, and even instruc-
tors, have found the realism of this
simulator to be rather startling. It
was intended to be just that. It will
provide the kind of learning experi-
ence that helps students make the
transition from the idealized class-
room setting to the realities of ward
duty.
Procedures That Can Be
Performed on This Simulator
The Intramuscular Injection
Simulator is a functional teaching
aid that enables personnel to devel-
op manipulative skills and improve
techniques. It makes the learning
experience one that is easily applied
in actual patient care, with little loss
of time and a minimum of patient
discomfort.
The specific techniques in intramus-
cular injections that can be taught
with this simulator are:
A. Gluteus Medius Injections
This is probably the most com-
monly considered site for giving
posterior injections; the sciatic
nerve transverses this area. If
a student perforates the nerve
or the vascular structures, it
can cause irreparable harm to
the patient. One acceptable
technique for giving injection in
this site is to have the patient
in a prone position, toes flexed
inward. This relaxes the posteri-
or muscles. The simulator dupli-
cates this position. The student
then identifies the greater tro-
chanter and draws an imaginary
line from it to the crest of the
posterior iliac crest. An injection
may be given anywhere above
and outside of this imaginary
plane. The needle should pen-
etrate on a direct back-to-front
route.
