VALPARAISO | Valparaiso University's College of Nursing soon will offer more hands-on learning opportunities for students in an expanded Virtual Nursing Learning Center.
The Virtual Nursing Learning Center, located on the ground level of the university's LeBien Hall, offers patient stations with realistic mannequins, beds and equipment that provide a simulation-based experience for students.
Beth Olejniczak, the center's director, said the expansion will increase the center's size by about 50 percent and includes the conversion of an upstairs classroom. Work will begin this month, and the project should be complete by the start of the fall semester.
"This new space will allow our nursing students to work more closely in simulations with pediatric and obstetric patients," Olejniczak said in a VU news release. "In the new lab, we are able to create learning situations they might not get a chance to see during their time in the hospital. It’s a true hands-on learning experience."
The expansion will allow a clinical component to be added to each undergraduate nursing course, Olejniczak said, and the new lab space will house infant simulation mannequins. - For The Times
