The newly-dedicated expansion of the Nursing Simulation Lab at Illinois State University already is making a difference in the student experience, say college leaders and students.
The lab expansion at the ISU's Mennonite College of Nursing took three years and $18 million. Student Nurses Association president Emily Brownlie said she likes the bigger rooms and 360-degree projection system.
"One of my simulations took place in an outdoor setting, but obviously when you are in a room it does not feel outdoors so the projectors really help with that. It made me feel like I was in a parking lot," Brownlie said at a dedication on Thursday.
The 16,000-square-foot expansion more than doubles the previous 10,000-square-foot space. It includes a multipurpose area with a 60-seat classroom, a technology room for virtual reality programming, three fully immersive technology rooms, a fully functioning four-bed hospital unit, hospital simulation space, undergraduate skills and health assessment labs, nursing advisors and faculty offices, conference rooms and study areas.
“The high-quality, high-tech learning that our students are receiving in this building will impact the care they give to their patients,” said Mennonite College of Nursing Dean Judy Neubrander. “Our students will not only learn how to be excellent nurses, but also leaders and researchers."
A student success suite will provide increased opportunity for student interaction with faculty and support staff, said a university news release.
The expansion will allow ISU to add 400 nursing students to its current enrollment of 1,100, said ISU president Aondover Tarhule. ISU plans to add another 100 nursing students in Springfield.
“The expansion of programs and facilities into this new simulation center attests to the active and leading role the university is playing in nursing education throughout the state of Illinois,” said Tarhule. “The simulation center will promote and enhance the Mennonite College of Nursing’s stellar reputation of excellence in nursing education.”
Nursing enrollment at Mennonite has grown 5 1/2 times since ISU took over the previously private Bloomington college 25 years ago. Since 1999, when Mennonite was 80 years old, it has steadily expanded and strengthened programs to include additional master’s and doctoral-level degree programs to prepare even more nurses and nursing educators.
Tarhule said the lab also creates interdisciplinary research possibilities.
"Because of virtual reality, we have people who are in the College of Fine Arts who now have an opportunity to do research with our students in nursing using simulation, and there are a lot of opportunities for those kinds of collaborations," said Tarhule.
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., helped find $2 million in federal funds for the project; $2 million in private donations also helped finance the project. University reserves made up the rest of the cost.
LaHood said Thursday the lab space will help reduce a nursing shortage in both rural and urban communities in Central Illinois.
"And when you educate nurses in a university, like ISU, they stay in our community. They thrive in our community. And so, the economic benefits that we'll see ripple through our community will be important also," said LaHood.
ISU already produces about 20% of the nurses in the state, according to Neubrander.
