Phase two of nursing program’s Clinical Simulation Learning Center opens

May 2012

With the completion of Longwood’s state-of-the-art simulation learning center, nursing students now can gain hands-on experience in a wide array of medical situations before they actually put their hands on human patients.

The 3,000-square-foot second phase of the Edward I Gordon, M.D. Clinical Simulation Learning Center (CSLC) expanded the facility to 10,000 square feet, making room for a mother-infant patient simulation lab, conference/debriefing rooms, a student resource center, patient examination room, home care learning center and faculty offices.

“With the addition of our new patient simulators, Longwood is now among the top nursing schools in the state to offer state-of-the-art simulation experiences for its students,” said Cindy Crews, clinical simulation director for Longwood’s Department of Nursing.

The high-fidelity patient simulators can duplicate a wide array of physiological functions, and a digital audiovisual system allows for live simulated experiences to be recorded and played back for faculty and student evaluation.

In the mother-infant patient simulation lab, nursing students are able to diagnose and treat a variety of situations that can occur during birth. The home care learning center is basically a mini-apartment equipped with a bed, reclining chair, dinette set and working bathroom and kitchen.

The CSLC is named for Dr. Edward Gordon, a longtime Farmville physician, who donated $1 million to establish the center in August 2009. Funding was also provided by the Commonwealth of Virginia and grants from Virginia Tobacco Commission and the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation. Completion of the center is just in time to benefit Longwood’s senior class of nursing students, who will graduate in May 2013.