Nursing Program Professor Karen Beaton instructs the Nursing Care of The Family/Maternal-Newborn Nursing course in Thompson Hall.

This afternoon, graduating seniors in our Nursing Program rehearsed for this evening's Pinning Ceremony in Weston Auditorium. Congratulations to all!

This afternoon, senior nursing students and their faculty held a unconventional way of studying for the NCLEX exam, The exam developed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN)to test the competency of nursing school graduates in the U.S. and Canada. This Family Feud style battle was played by teams named Pill Passing Posse, Drop IT Like It's Hot,  The Bedpan Bunch, The Congresswomen, Brainless UATS, and the Catheter Cowgirls. Not to be outdone, the nursing faculty had their own team, The Lifesavers, who loss to the overall winners, The Pill Passing Posse.

In order to get a better understanding of how our nursing students prepare, the nursing faculty and senior nursing students held the first of two  “Nursing in Action”
Programs this afternoon in the clinical labs at Thompson Hall. This event gave future nursing students the chance to see training topics lead by our senior nursing students including; Fall Prevention, Pediatric CPR, and Safe Body Mechanics among others. The next chance to get this experience is  is  Friday April 19  from 1-2:30pm, register here.

Theater Concentration, Communications Media Alum Steven Beck'23 played Peter Snyder, a schizophrenic patient who went off his medication. Our team of nursing students were directed to take vitals, administer medications, and were eventually able to get Peter to get from the floor to his bed. 

After checking in at our Thompson Hall location, Future Falcons and their guests were greeted by a  team of our nursing students and faculty to learn about our Nursing Program. These Future Falcons, planning to be Nursing majors, took part in just one of our many major-specific information sessions at yesterday's Future Falcon Day. Students and their guests got to tour of our Clinical Skills Lab, and take part in a panel discussion.

James Irons, a recovering alcoholic, is in the hospital a.k.a. the simulation lab, being prepared for a surgical procedure.  This team of our nursing students were directed to administer medications, prepare the patient for some post-op procedures, give a blood transfusion, and work through the simulation in real time. The Fitchburg State University Nursing Simulation Laboratory assists nursing students in learning critical thinking and clinical judgment skills in preparation for their healthcare careers. The “manikins” act as lifelike patient simulators, wherein instructors provide real-time feedback via a control center, giving students as close to a hospital scenario as possible. Fellow students watch as their classmates work through the simulation. All students and faculty debrief after the scenario.

Poor Kevin Bell, a paraplegic, is back in the ER a.k.a. the simulation lab, complaining of a headache, general discomfort - tests point to kidney stones and an infection. Another team of our nursing students were directed to administer medications, and work through the simulation in real time. The Fitchburg State University Nursing Simulation Laboratory assists nursing students in learning critical thinking and clinical judgment skills in preparation for their healthcare careers. The “manikins” act as lifelike patient simulators, wherein instructors provide real-time feedback via a control center, giving students as close to a hospital scenario as possible. Fellow students watch as their classmates work through the simulation. All students and faculty debrief after the scenario.

Kevin Bell, a paraplegic, is  in the simulation lab, complaining of a headache, general discomfort - tests point to kidney stones and an infection. Our nursing students were directed to administer medications, and work through the simulation in real time. The Fitchburg State University Nursing Simulation Laboratory assists nursing students in learning critical thinking and clinical judgment skills in preparation for their healthcare careers. The “manikins” act as lifelike patient simulators, wherein instructors provide real-time feedback via a control center, giving students as close to a hospital scenario as possible. Fellow students watch as their classmates work through the simulation. All students and faculty debrief after the scenario.

Nursing students at Fitchburg State University will benefit from cutting edge technology and next-level simulations thanks to generous grants from the Elaine Nicpon Marieb Charitable Foundation and the George I. Alden Trust.

The grants will fund wearable technology to let students and instructors utilize the latest augmented reality software as well as stipends for nursing and game design students to create and deploy new scenarios for nurses in training.

“This really is cutting edge,” said Associate Professor Deborah Benes, chair of Fitchburg State’s Nursing Department. “We’re giving our students the opportunity to work with equipment they never would have seen before that’s being used in the workforce right now.”