Pennsylvania College of Technology Dedicates Nursing Education Center

Earlier this week the Pennsylvania College of Technology dedicated its Nursing Education Center during National Nurses Week. The college’s nursing program was previously housed on the second floor of the Health Sciences Center, sharing a wing with four other majors, but the new Nursing Education Center now occupies the entire first floor of the Health Science Center’s west wing. With 10 dedicated classrooms and seven learning labs, the nursing college now serves more than 350 enrolled students.

Penn College’s nursing program was started in 1963, offering a certificate in practical nursing. Today the college offers four associate and bachelor’s degrees to facilitate the increasing demand for qualified nursing professionals. With a focus on hands-on learning and a student-centered environment, the expanded nursing facilities allow for more graduates out of the nursing program.

With more room now available, the college has been able to accept more students into the nursing program as well as offer students a more valuable education through realistic hands-on learning experiences. Included in the new nursing classrooms and learning labs are five high-fidelity manikins and TV’s for simulating vital signs. The manikins are programmable to imitate real conditions like allowing students to assess lung and heart sounds for simulated patients with cardiovascular or respiratory diseases. There are two adult simulators, a pregnant mother, a pediatric patient, and an infant simulator. Video and audio recording systems are in place in all simulation rooms so that nursing educators can observe students from a remote location.

The new nursing faculty, new facilities, and high-tech labs were a gift to the college of nursing from Penn College itself. It is a highly regarded nursing program and the new facilities have already resulted in high student achievement results on licensure exams, in program completion, and in job placement. Following the official ribbon-cutting and dedication, the new Nursing Education Center was opened up to tours.