New Simulation Center in Beaufort Boosts USCB Nursing
USCB’s Nursing program is growing thanks to a new state-of-the-art education and simulation center in Beaufort. USCB partnered with Beaufort County, the City of Beaufort, and Beaufort Memorial Foundation to build the new Beaufort Memorial PATH Career Development Center. This will allow the university to almost double the number of new nurses that USCB contributes annually to the region.
The $2.8 million, 6,430 square-foot facility (opened July 2024) offers high-tech, lifelike simulators and includes two large classrooms, two debrief rooms and four clinical simulation labs. There USCB students and employees of Beaufort Memorial Hospital to have immersive learning experiences guided by trained practitioners.
Currently, USCB graduates about 42 nurses a year. With the new Beaufort facility, the university hopes to grow to 72 Nursing graduates per year, over the next few years.
“This partnership is a critical step toward addressing the nursing shortage in the Lowcountry and beyond,” said Dr. Christina Beall, Chair of USCB’s Nursing department.
South Carolina is one of the U.S. states facing the most severe nursing shortage.
BMH and USCB leaders joined with local and state officials to begin planning for the education center in late 2021 amid growing concerns about nursing shortages following the pandemic.
Initial funding came in 2022 when Beaufort County and USCB provided $500,000 each for construction costs. The USCB funding was part of a $1 million Congressionally Directed Spending award facilitated by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R).
Beaufort City Council approved budget amendments to its budget in 2023 and 2024, allocating $1.5 million from a South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control grant and $1 million from the State of South Carolina’s Fiscal Year 2024 General Appropriations Act, of which $1 million went toward construction costs.
“In the Lowcountry, our population is growing much faster than our health care services are able to keep up with. The need and the demand for nurses is going to continue to get higher. We’re here to try and address that need,” said Dr. Kim Dudas, USCB Asst. Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs. “The vision for the center has become a reality and the university is grateful to the generous support from the City of Beaufort and Beaufort County that allowed USCB and BMH to dream big and co-create an academic-practice partnership that benefits the entire community.”
In the new center, nursing students will work with real medical equipment in replicas of hospital rooms, caring for patients who are life-like interactive manikins. They’ll receive instruction from faculty leading to high-quality care and the best patient outcomes; practice clinical skills, including how to exercise their best clinical judgment in high-stress situations; and are assessed on competencies.
Powered by artificial intelligence, their manikin “patients” answer questions and explain their symptoms. They blink, cough, introduce themselves and give birth. Students can draw their blood, check breathing and chest issues, check for abnormal pupils and more.
Research shows that simulation increases learning and supports the transition to nursing practice following graduation. The manikins’ wide range of possible responses in real-time scenarios help prepare students for the unpredictable world of health care.
- USCB -
KT / 8-1-2024