Recent renovations at Innovation Hall on GW’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus nearly doubled the simulation space available to nursing students and opened up the first floor of the school’s home to create a student success center.
Originally built in 1997, GW Nursing’s home in Innovation Hall looked more like an office building than a college campus. Thanks to renovation efforts spearheaded by Operations Manager Joe Velez that started
in February, students now walk into an open area with a lounge, open collaboration spaces and six group study breakout rooms. The success center is intended to ensure students are comfortable and have access to the resources they need on campus.
Upstairs, the other part of the school’s $3.5 million renovation project invests in new simulation space.
“Simulation education offers unparalleled freedom for health professionals. Controlled, simulated environments allow you to try and fail, then learn from your mistakes. The real benefit of simulation is that you can take all the time you need to understand how you can improve,” said Dean Pamela Jeffries.
The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) lab, the school’s fourth simulation lab, is a space for nurse practitioner (NP) students to improve their clinical skills.
“Our NP students take their courses online but come to campus for testing three times during their program. These visits engage students in experiential learning and provide a mechanism for formative evaluation,” said Crystel Farina, director of simulation and experiential learning for the school.
The new space contains 12 patient exam rooms and two acute care or “flex” rooms, bringing the total simulation space to nearly 20,000 square feet. The entire OSCE center is outfitted with
SimCapture, B-line's health care simulation management platform that provides livestreaming, recording, connections to real data and medical devices and more.