Students from the TTUHSC School of Nursing joined nursing students from West Texas A&M University and Amarillo College for a poverty simulation exercise Sept. 22 hosted by The Pavilion at Northwest Texas Healthcare System. The goal of the exercise was to allow the nursing students to experience first-hand what some of their patients go through on a daily basis.

“This is a great way to teach our students about developing a different level of compassion for their patients,” said Debbie Casida, an assistant professor for the TTUHSC School of Nursing in Amarillo. “Once the students experience poverty on their own, it allows them to see it from a different way than they did before.”