Students gain real nursing skills in state-of-the-art simulation facility

(From left to right) Nursing student Stacy Bolt; project manager Kim Bass (of Longwood Capital Planning & Construction); Dr. Melody Eaton, chair of the Nursing Department; Longwood President Patrick Finnegan; lead donor Dr. Edward Gordon; and Cindy Crews, clinical simulation director in the Nursing Department

The Nursing Department’s state-of-the-art instructional and simulation facility was dedicated Feb. 1, 2011.

The Edward I. Gordon, M.D., Clinical Simulation and Learning Center is designed to advance the clinical and critical reasoning skills of Longwood students in a safe environment. The facility was made possible by a $1 million gift from Dr. Edward Gordon, a longtime Farmville physician, in August 2009.

The center features high-tech equipment, including manikins capable of simulating a remarkable array of physiological functions and a digital audiovisual system that allows simulated experiences to be recorded and played back for faculty and student evaluation. All of the funding for the work and equipment came from private donations and grants. Longwood’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program was launched in fall 2009.