Patient Care Manikins

Patient Care Manikins: Full-Body and Task-Specific Simulators for Nursing and Clinical Skills Training

The competent provision of bedside care entails acquiring skills that by their very nature are physical: the right way to move a patient without harming them, the right way to insert a urinary catheter, the right way to change dressings on wounds, and the right body positioning for transferring patients. All these skills cannot be tested using a book and cannot be safely done on real patients by student nurses and nursing assistants who have not shown their basic competence yet. Patient care simulators offer an opportunity to train such basic clinical skills in a controlled way.

At MediDepot, the Patient Care Manikins collection features full-body nursing skills manikins and task-specific training simulators from Life/form and Simulaids, two of the most established brands in clinical simulation for nursing and allied health education. The collection supports training programs from CNA certification courses through registered nursing prelicensure programs and hospital-based skills laboratory curricula.

Target Audience

Patient care manikins are suitable for all levels of nursing education institutions, from basic certification programs to advanced practice training programs.

• Nursing Schools and Pre-Licensure RN Programs that use full body patient care manikins for skills laboratories for teaching basic nursing skills such as hygiene, positioning, catheterization, wound care, vital signs, and patient transport skills.

• Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Certification Programs that must be able to meet competency criteria set by state law and that necessitate full-bodied durable manikins for hands-on skill return demonstration as part of their practical exam.

• Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) Programs that require patient care training manikins with a wider range of capabilities than CNA certification programs and that include the teaching of skills such as wound care, catheterization, and patient assessment which are not usually taught in CNA certification programs.

• Hospital Education and Professional Development Departments that have skills labs for new grad nurse orientation, annual competency validation for staff already working there, and for in-service education regarding procedures changes, infection control procedures, and safe patient handling.

• Long-Term Care and Skilled Nursing Facilities Training Programs providing the clinical orientation and continuous skill competency development of nursing assistant personnel in facilities where all basic patient care skills are routinely practiced.

• Allied Health and Medical Assistant Programs that include patient care fundamentals in their curricula, requiring training platforms appropriate for basic clinical skills including vital signs practice, patient communication, and fundamental patient handling techniques.

• Simulation Centers Directors and Clinical Education Directors in academic medical centers, community hospitals, and health systems’ education departments procuring clinical skills laboratory equipment and seeking durable solutions to high frequency, multiple user training environments.

Featured Products: Life/form and Simulaids Patient Care Manikins

MediDepot’s Patient Care Manikins product line encompasses patient care manikins that are full body as well as those that are specialized for specific tasks, giving training programs the flexibility to choose which configuration best suits their training program and laboratory facility. The list below represents the key products in the product line.

Life/form KERi Complete Nursing Skills Manikin (LF04020), Light Skin

• The KERi Complete Nursing Skills Manikin is a full-body adult patient care simulator designed for comprehensive nursing skills instruction at all levels from nursing assistant through registered nursing programs. The manikin presents as an adult female in the standard configuration and can be presented as an adult male by removing the included wig.

• Weighing roughly 28 pounds and having 58 inches in length, the KERi Manikin is modeled on adult patient proportions but remains portable enough to use in skills laboratories, where both students and teachers will need to maneuver and move the manikin often during the training process.

• All major joints, such as the neck, shoulder, elbow, hip, and knee joints, are designed with natural range of motion and mimic that of a real-life patient, allowing learners to perform safe turning, log rolling, positioning, and transportation exercises with realistic joint resistance.

• Hands and feet are made of the soft and flexible Life/Form material which is similar to the texture and flexibility of real-life patient extremities, helping the learners perform realistic tasks such as performing hand and foot hygiene and nail care, as well as assessing pedal pulses and capillary refill.

• The KERi platform supports practice of more than 35 patient care procedures documented in standard CNA and nursing skills competency curricula, including bathing, oral hygiene, hair care, dressing, bed making with an occupied bed, urinary catheter care, wound dressing, vital signs assessment, nasogastric tube care, and safe patient handling techniques.

Simulaids 1370 Weighted Patient Care Manikin (105 lbs)

• The Simulaids 1370 Weighted Patient Care Manikin offers a 105-pound training tool that is able to simulate the real physical effort required to care for an adult patient when repositioning, transferring, and helping an adult patient move, and thus create training conditions that ensure development of patient handling technique and body mechanics skills necessary for patient handling in practice.

• Movement of articulated limbs is used to offer realistic positions possible in different clinical scenarios of nursing assistants' and nurses' work, including supine position, lateral position, semi-Fowler's position, as well as seated and transfer positions requiring realistic patient weight distribution.

• Specified weight of 105 pounds is justified by the physiological need to have a heavy training manikin since patient handling technique cannot be properly developed using light-weight manikins which cannot simulate the load, resistance, and momentum of an adult patient during repositioning and transferring tasks.

Simulaids 150-1372B Patient Care Manikin, Dark Skin

• The Simulaids 150-1372B offers the same patient care education abilities that the regular Simulaids patient care manikin has but with a representation in dark skin tone, which is suitable for training programs focused on fostering diversity and inclusion goals for nurses and CNAs.

• Training programs that work with diverse patient populations need to ensure that they incorporate dark skin tone manikins into their training manikin supply in order to develop clinical skills such as skin assessments and wound evaluations among others.

Life/form Suture and Stapling Practice Arm (LF01028U), Light Skin

• The Life/form Suture and Stapling Practice Arm is a specialized training tool used for teaching and practicing the process of suturing and stapling wounds by offering a realistic simulation of tissue resistance through the use of a tissue-like surface.

• This product can be used in medical assistant schools, surgical technology classes, emergency medicine, and other environments where learning to close wounds is part of the required competencies. It helps avoid the problems related to working on biological tissue substitutes when developing suturing and stapling skills.

Product Comparisons

The following table presents a structured comparison of patient care manikin products available at MediDepot to support selection decisions based on program type, required training capabilities, and product specifications.

Core Nursing and Patient Care Skills Supported

Patient care manikins in this collection support a comprehensive range of clinical skills competencies required for CNA certification, pre-licensure nursing programs, and hospital-based skills validation curricula. The following skill categories represent the primary training applications of the products in this collection.

• Personal Hygiene and Activities of Daily Living: Bed bathing, oral hygiene, hair and nail care, perineal care, and dressing assistance with a dependent or semi-dependent patient, including bed linen changes with an occupied bed.

• Patient Positioning and Mobility: Safe turning techniques, log-roll procedures, positioning for pressure injury prevention, Fowler and semi-Fowler positioning, lateral positioning with appropriate support, and transfer from bed to wheelchair and bed to stretcher using slide boards and mechanical lift technique.

• Urinary and Catheter Care: Urinary catheter insertion and indwelling catheter care procedures using anatomically appropriate simulator features, including perineal cleansing, catheter securement, drainage bag management, and catheter removal technique.

• Wound and Skin Care: Wound dressing changes, wound irrigation, pressure injury staging assessment and documentation, application of compression bandaging, and skin assessment across multiple skin tone representations.

• Vital Signs Assessment: Pulse palpation, respiratory rate assessment, temperature measurement, and blood pressure auscultation using a blood pressure arm trainer where applicable, supporting the integration of vital signs skills within the broader patient care curriculum.

• Safe Patient Handling and Ergonomics: Proper body mechanics for patient care tasks, team-based patient turning and transfer techniques, and the application of friction-reducing devices and mechanical lift accessories, which are directly supported by the Simulaids 105-pound weighted manikin's realistic load characteristics.

• Wound Closure Skills: Basic suture and stapling technique using the Life/form LF01028U Suture and Stapling Practice Arm, supporting competency development in programs where basic wound closure is included in the clinical skills curriculum.

Selection Guidance for Patient Care Manikin Procurement

The appropriate patient care manikin configuration depends on the clinical skills curriculum, student enrollment volume, available laboratory space, and program budget. The following considerations are intended to assist training program directors and procurement personnel.

• Programs requiring comprehensive nursing skills training across 35 or more competency areas should prioritize the Life/form KERi Complete Nursing Skills Manikin (LF04020) as the primary full-body training platform. The KERi's broad procedural capability and manageable 28-pound weight make it the most versatile single training tool in the patient care manikin category.

• Programs with a specific safe patient handling curriculum emphasis, or programs preparing students for employment in settings where heavy patient management is routine, should include the Simulaids 1370 Weighted Patient Care Manikin in their training inventory. The 105-pound specification creates authentic training conditions that lightweight manikins cannot replicate.

• Programs with stated diversity and inclusion objectives should supplement their primary manikin inventory with the Simulaids 150-1372B dark skin tone manikin to provide representational diversity and to support skin assessment competency development across multiple skin tones.

• Programs that include wound closure in their clinical skills curriculum should procure the Life/form LF01028U Suture and Stapling Practice Arm as a task-specific simulator for suture and stapling competency development, complementing the full-body patient care manikin rather than replacing it.

Frequently Asked Questions: Patient Care Manikins

What procedures can be practiced on the Life/form KERi manikin?

The KERi manikin supports more than 35 patient care procedures, including bathing, oral hygiene, catheter care, wound dressing, vital signs, positioning, safe transfers, and bed linen changes with an occupied bed. All joints are articulated for realistic patient handling practice.

Why is the 105-pound Simulaids manikin recommended for safe patient handling training?

Lightweight manikins do not replicate the load, resistance, and momentum of an actual adult patient. The 105-pound specification creates authentic physical training conditions that develop the body mechanics and team coordination required for safe patient handling in clinical practice.

Can the Life/form KERi manikin represent both male and female patients?

Yes. The KERi manikin is presented as an adult female by default. Removing the included wig presents the manikin as an adult male, supporting training programs that require gender representation flexibility within a single manikin platform.

What is the Life/form LF01028U Suture and Stapling Practice Arm used for?

The LF01028U is a task-specific simulator for suture placement and staple application technique. It provides a tissue analog surface replicating actual skin resistance during wound closure, and is applicable to medical assistant, surgical technology, and emergency medicine training programs.

How should patient care manikins be cleaned between training sessions?

Patient care manikins should be cleaned with mild soap and water or an approved surface disinfectant per the manufacturer's instructions after each use. Removable components, including wigs and catheter inserts, should be cleaned separately. Consult Life/form and Simulaids documentation for specific disinfection protocols.