College Dedicates Nursing Technology and Patient Simulation Laboratories
Donors recognized at May 6 event
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, and the Penn State School of Nursing will formally dedicate the college’s Nursing Technology Laboratory and Patient Simulation Center, as well as recognize the labs’ financial supporters, in a morning ceremony on Tuesday, May 6.
The new laboratories represent an investment of more than a million dollars by Penn State Behrend, and were underwritten in part by $640,000 in community grants and private gifts.
The lab dedication and donor recognition is open to the public and will begin at 10:30 a.m. It will be held in the nursing laboratories in 185 Benson, which is located on the west end of the Penn State Behrend campus.
“Private and community support allowed us to design and build a state-of-the-art lab for the new nursing degree programs,” Penn State Behrend Chancellor Jack Burke explained. “In turn we are able to make the labs available as a training resource for area doctors, nurses and emergency medical service providers. In this way, the entire region benefits from the donors’ generosity.”
The donors and gifts to be recognized at Tuesday’s ceremony are:
• Highmark Foundation, $200,000
• Pennsylvania Centers for Health Careers and Workforce Investment Board, $107,203
• Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development grant received through Sen. Jane Earll, $100,000
• Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry Equipment Grant, $87,708 • Saint Vincent Health System, $50,000
• Dr. and Mrs. Arthur W. Phillips Charitable Trust, $50,000
• Orris C. and Beatrice Dewey Hirtzel Memorial Foundation, $15,283
• Penn State Outreach Thematic Initiative Fund, $15,000
• The Erie Community Foundation, $10,000
• Reliant Pharmaceuticals, $5,000
Penn State Behrend’s patient simulation lab was recently named a “best practice” by the Pennsylvania Center for Health Careers. It is outfitted with very smart “dummies”—adult and pediatric clinical simulation mannequins that mimic real human physiologic functions and responses to treatment.
“A patient simulation lab can never fully replace human interaction and learning, but it does enable us to augment students’ learning because we can create situations they might not encounter during their clinical experiences,” said Jo Anne Carrick, nursing program director. “People learn in different ways, but we’ve found that retention is greatest when students are exposed to the hands-on experience that comes with the use of human simulators.”
Penn State Behrend launched its associate degree in nursing in fall 2007 in response to the critical need for nurses in the region and Commonwealth. Penn State Behrend collaborated with the Penn State School of Nursing, which is housed at the University Park campus, to offer the fully accredited associate degree in nursing provided by the School. It is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission and the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.
This summer, the college will begin offering course work for its 33rd undergraduate degree, an R.N. to B.S. in nursing. This new degree can be pursued as either a traditional four-year degree in nursing or, for licensed R.N.s, as the last two years of a bachelor’s degree.
A second public open house for the new nursing laboratories is scheduled from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7. Both the dedication and open house events are part of the college’s observation of National Nurses Week 2008 and its theme, “Nurses: Making a Difference Every Day.”
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, is a comprehensive residential college offering 33 baccalaureate, six associate, four pre-professional and two graduate degree programs with 22 minors to more than 4,400 students. Focused on providing a student-centered environment, Penn State Behrend is the link that connects its students to a major research and land-grant institution on a campus enriched by more than 110 clubs and organizations, 21 NCAA varsity teams, 19 intramural sports and modern facilities. Penn State Behrend is named as such due to a donation by Mary Behrend, widow of Ernst Behrend, who founded the Hammermill Paper Co. in Erie in 1898. The Behrend family lived on the 400-acre Glenhill Farm, which is the historic core of the Penn State Behrend campus today.