The School of Nursing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University held an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newly developed Simulation and Virtual Learning Center.

The simulation center offers students the opportunity to practice in a virtual learning environment. The approximately 2700 sq. ft. space includes separate rooms for adult and maternal/child clinical labs with observation rooms behind mirrored glass. Each lab also has a control room for faculty to observe the students and operate computerized mannequins.

Catherine Sykes, director of the center said, “I am thrilled to be moving into the new space because it will give the students experience and quality preparation for taking care of complex patients in any health care setting.”

According to Sykes, students participate in simulated clinical learning experiences with every clinical course in the nursing curriculum. They take care of life-like computerized patients that breathe, have heart and lung sounds, blink and even talk back to their nurses. Participation in clinical simulations has shown to improve the critical thinking and clinical judgment of all types of health care workers.