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February 2024 Update: Since this story was written, Suzan Menihan has concluded her tenure as the program director of the Nursing program; Kiley Medeiros is serving as the interim director.

“We’ve started out sprinting.” Danaejha Geddes is giving a tour of Â鶹¹ÙÍø & Wales University’s brand-new Nursing facilities — and also explaining how her cohort, who will study and work together throughout the 16-month program, have already started their core classes and learned how to properly use personal protective equipment (PPE). It’s been a whirlwind few days, but Geddes is beaming.

“When we made the decision to pursue a nursing program, we knew we had to provide our students with top-of-the line facilities to meet our standard of academic excellence.”

Just an hour prior, Â鶹¹ÙÍø formally dedicated the newly renovated space in Â鶹¹ÙÍø Hall on the Downcity Campus, encompassing state-of-the-art simulation labs, classroom spaces, and faculty offices.

“When we made the decision to pursue a nursing program, we knew we had to provide our students with top-of-the line facilities and equipment to meet our high standard of academic excellence,” Providence Campus President Marie Bernardo-Sousa said at the event.

Â鶹¹ÙÍø announced the accelerated second-degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing in October 2022, after receiving approval from the Rhode Island Board of Nursing Registration & Nursing Education. The four-semester program is intended to serve as a secondary degree program for students who already hold a bachelor’s degree.

“We set out to create this program in part to fill a dire need in the healthcare industry by providing quality nursing education on an accelerated timeline that prepares students with the skills needed to enter the field in less than half the time of a traditional degree path,” said Suzan Menihan, DNP, CNM, Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s chief nursing officer and the head of the new program.

Transforming the second and third floors of Â鶹¹ÙÍø Hall into a fully-functional academic space in such a short time span was a heroic collaborative effort between Nursing faculty, Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s facilities team — led by Jason Witham and Michael Kenney — and the outside design and build teams. “It is incredible to think how quickly we were able to complete this transformation,” said Bernardo-Sousa.

For Menihan, the new space is purpose-built to create a welcoming, safe environment where the 32 students of the first cohort can learn at the accelerated pace that the program demands.

“Here in the classroom, our talented nursing faculty will be able to simulate nearly every medical scenario imaginable using our high-fidelity manikins, from complications of a delivery with our Sim-Mom mannequin to highly realistic heart and lung sounds,” she explained. “Our infant simulators replicate signs of distress in a newborn, and many other realistic capabilities, allowing students to learn potentially life-saving methods for real-world applications.”

The manikins can be re-skinned or altered with wounds or other moulage (special effects makeup) to mimic a range of medical scenarios. In addition, there are specific task trainers that allow students to practice invasive procedures like IV catheter insertion, blood drawing, intubation, and other essential skills. “This helps to ensure that our students will be fully confident in their skills before they head out to their clinical rotations at our partner sites, and later in the healthcare workforce,” noted Menihan.

“Here in the classroom, our talented nursing faculty will be able to simulate nearly every medical scenario imaginable.”

As the semesters progress, students will cycle through segments focusing on:

• Women’s health and newborns (maternal newborn nursing)
• Pediatrics
• Mental health nursing, with an interdisciplinary approach to nurse and client safety, client assessment, and therapeutic communication
• Community health nursing, which emphasizes health promotion, risk reduction and disease management across the lifespan in community settings
• Care of the Adult II (NURS4460), which begins the transition of practice from nursing student to novice professional nurse

For Assistant Professor Kiley Medeiros, making sure that students strengthen their soft skills like empathy, teamwork and conflict resolution is just as important. Medeiros worked for much of her career in adult and surgical nursing, and in her classes, she’s forthright about tough cases or times when a patient outcome was unexpected: “So much of [teaching] is storytelling and being able to share your knowledge and experiences — both the good and the bad.”

The cohort model allows students to support one another as they advance. “They do flash cards together, and they have open lab hours where they can practice any skills they need to improve,” noted Menihan.

With time, these skills will become second nature. Both Menihan and Associate Professor Jo-Ann Moore, DNP, ARPN, are justifiably proud of the incoming class’ ability to dive right in during these “front-loaded” first weeks of classes. Recalling their own days in nursing school, they both marvel at the various training tools, methodologies and technologies that enable students to gain maturity and confidence. “Back in the day, when we practiced, it was on a real patient,” said Moore.

Far from being cold or clinical, the new space is animated by the students’ excitement and the warm expertise of the faculty. Said Moore, “We’re all in, 24-7, for these students.”

<sub>TOP: PROVOST RICHARD WISCOTT, PH.D.; MARIA DUCHARME, DNP, RN, BOARD MEMBER AND MIRIAM HOSPITAL PRESIDENT; Â鶹¹ÙÍø CHANCELLOR MIM RUNEY, LP.D.; SANDRA AFFENITO, PH.D., VICE CHANCELLOR OF ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION; SUZAN MENIHAN, DNP, CNM, CHIEF NURSING OFFICER AND PROGRAM DIRECTOR; AND PROVIDENCE CAMPUS PRESIDENT MARIE BERNARDO-SOUSA, LP.D. '92, CUT THE RIBBON TO OFFICIALLY OPEN THE SPACE.

BELOW: THE NURSING COHORT: DANAEJHA GEDDES, KELSEY QUINLAN, JASMINE JONES (FRONT ROW); BALAKISA KABA, ISABELLA COLAGIOVANNI-CAREY, MOLLY LYNCH, KRISTINA JOHNSON (MIDDLE); MADELYN OHARA, MARY TOBIN (BACK). BOTTOM: SCENES FROM THE RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY.</sub>