University of Central Arkansas students will soon benefit from state-of-the-art health care training stimulation, courtesy of the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas. The non-profit foundation, established and funded by Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, awarded UCA with a $149,991 grant to purchase training stimulation equipment.
The equipment will be housed in the Nabholz Center for Healthcare Stimulation, which trains students by offering realistic health care work scenarios. The equipment will include “the BD Pyxis Medstation4000, a state-of-the-art automated medication dispensing unit used by hospitals, and three high-fidelity simulation manikins — the Nursing Anne Simulation for development of core nursing skills; SimMom, an advanced full-body birthing simulator; and Nursing Baby, an infant manikin that simulates a 6-month-old patient,” according to a UCA news release.
Approximately 300 students per semester are expected to be trained ab the Nabholz Center next semester. Patrick O’Sullivan, executive director of the Blue & You Foundation, says that the grant was one of 39 the foundation disbursed out of more than 260 applications.
“Helping to build and expand the medical workforce in Arkansas is important to the health of all of our citizens, and the UCA nursing program plays an important role in training nurses for the future,” he said in a statement. “Our grant to UCA for the purchase of medical simulation equipment was one of only 39 awarded throughout Arkansas from among a record-high 261 applications, which is an indication of the significance of the work that UCA is doing to provide high-quality nursing training that will help many Arkansans live healthier lives.”
The Nabholz Center for Healthcare Stimulation will be part of UCA’s new Integrated Health Sciences Building – an 80,000-square-foot facility currently under construction.
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