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Abstract:
A college of nursing and a hospital offer a "pretend hospital" to approximately 3,000 first graders each spring. The community service project, which has quadrupled in attendance over nine years, teaches first graders about health maintenance and the role of health care in their lives, and helps decrease their anxiety related to the hospital experience. Realistic and nonthreatening multisensory experiences of the simulated hospital prepare children for the healthcare consumer role. The simulation also provides nursing students an opportunity to translate concepts of growth, development, and communication into practice.