PITTSBURG, Kan. — Officers at Pittsburg State College broke floor Thursday on a virtually $7 million simulation hospital to be constructed adjoining to McPherson Corridor, house to the Irene Ransom Bradley College of Nursing.
The venture will embody development of an roughly 10,000-square-foot addition, plus focused renovations to the present constructing that may accommodate cohorts of 120 college students, giving them the chance to “carry their expertise to their scientific websites and locations of employment after commencement,” mentioned Kathleen Flannery, president and CEO of the PSU Basis and vp of college development.
Highlights of the venture will embody related management rooms, a debriefing room, a ready space, a examine space, storage and restrooms. Mixed, the venture will contain roughly 24,000 sq. ft.
The groundbreaking marked an thrilling second for college and college students, mentioned Mary Carol Pomatto, a former director of the College of Nursing and at present the dean of the School of Arts & Sciences.
“The simulation hospital brings a lot extra to our faculty and to the college,” she mentioned. “It modifications the coed expertise, and as you recognize, offering transformational experiences to our college students is what we do.”
These experiences are much more vital within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shed a lightweight on the wants of well being care and the abilities that shall be required of future nurses, Pomatto mentioned.
“In gentle of the latest pandemic, demand from the well being care trade for certified nurses, suppliers and well being care employees has elevated,” she mentioned. “A simulation hospital geared up with state-of-the-art know-how and gear will present an incredible, hands-on studying setting and permit instructors to stage real-life eventualities in a protected setting.”
College officers introduced the venture in January 2020, saying that it aligned with PSU’s strategic plan and would assist meet the demand for nursing graduates.
It was funded by presents from non-public donors who acknowledged a have to increase entry to well being care professions to extra college students, mentioned Lynda Banwart, a nurse practitioner, graduate of the College of Nursing and chair of the PSU Basis.
“Nurses have to be ready to deal with the rise in calls for of sicker sufferers, new applied sciences and care environments which might be ever-changing,” she mentioned. “This simulation hospital will help college in getting ready nurses for this dynamic setting.”