Pace University in Pleasantville is receiving $2,175,000 in funding arranged by New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Yonkers. The money is to help cover the costs of capital improvements and technology upgrades at its Center of Excellence in Healthcare Simulation.
Simulation exercises provide hands-on training opportunities for students to practice providing care to simulated patients. in high-demand health programs, helping prepare more nurses and clinicians. Pace says that by expanding and modernizing its simulation facilities, it will be able to prepare even more practice-ready nurses, physician assistants, and allied health professionals to meet the growing demand for personnel. Simulations are conducted in a variety of settings including pediatrics, maternity, medical-surgical, and critical care.
Pace has simulation labs on both its Westchester and New York City campuses, with a combined total of 15,000 square feet of laboratory learning space. It says that there are more than 20,000 hours of simulation conducted per year, offering students an opportunity to practice skills at basic and advanced levels across the curriculum.
“Pace is a regional and national leader in health education simulation, and this investment will enable it to increase its capacity and train more nurses,” Stewart-Cousins said. “The better we prepare them, the better our health care will be for all New Yorkers. These simulation suites allow students to learn in spaces that are modeled after emergency departments, labor and delivery rooms and clinics. They are videoed to receive playback and debriefings by their professors.”
The facilities include simulation suites, standardized patient rooms and clinical labs. Pace describes simulation suites as being modeled to mimic various clinical settings such as an emergency room, hospital rooms, or labor and delivery rooms or outpatient clinics. Each room is equipped with realistic hospital equipment that the students would use in the clinical environment. Students can interview simulated patients, perform a physical examination and provide an assessment and plan of action.
Pace says that the expanded simulation training capabilities will enable it to graduate and place more nurses at hospitals throughout the Hudson Valley.
