Region's only virtual hospital and lifelike mannequins deliver "as real as it gets" training
Dr. Elisabeth Pennington, former Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, has donated $150,000 to support the College of Nursing's state-of-the-art new simulation lab and instructional technology center.
"Elisabeth Pennington's generous gift is just one more example of her leadership in the University community and devotion to the nursing profession," said UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack. "Speaking on behalf of the University, we are profoundly grateful."
Designed to simulate a hospital environment, the Dean Elisabeth Pennington Simulation Lab will contain a "virtual hospital" with a nurses' station, and four treatment rooms with hospital beds and medical equipment -- while doubling the number of SimMen®, electronic mannequins that perfectly mimic human bodies responding to treatment.
"Thanks to Elisabeth's generous gift, we will dramatically increase our capacity to expose our student nurses to the serious health conditions they will experience in real clinical settings," said current dean of the College of Nursing, James Fain. "Short of actually treating real patients, this training will be as real as it gets."
With construction scheduled to begin on the North Dartmouth campus later this year, the $150,000 gift will serve as a matching fund for all donations received to support the new "SimLab."
"I'm deeply committed to the nursing student experience at UMass Dartmouth," said Dean Pennington, "and the new SimLab will offer the best patient-specific resources to students who will ultimately be responsible for the health of thousands each year."
About the College of Nursing
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's College of Nursing has been training some of the best nurses in the nation since 1969. The only school of nursing offered by a four-year university in southeastern Massachusetts, the College of Nursing enrolls more than 650 students in its bachelor's, master's and PhD programs, as well as online and refresher courses for practicing nurses.