New lab opens to improve, expand nursing care
Seattle University's College of Nursing opens laboratory in James Tower Life Sciences Building
This fall, students in Seattle University's College of Nursing will have the benefit of training in one of the most technically advanced clinical laboratories in the country. The new Clinical Performance Laboratory, located in the James Tower Life Sciences Building, is part of the College of Nursing's response to the nation's critical need for more and better-trained nurses.
The $3 million, 20,000 square foot laboratory is four times larger than the facility SU's 500 nursing students trained in previously. The Clinical Performance Laboratory will replicate hospital and clinical settings, and feature state-of-the-art training equipment such as human-like patient simulators that breathe, bleed, cough and cry. Studies show that simulation learning improves students' confidence and skill level, and eases their anxiety in the clinical environment.
"The clinical laboratory enhances patient care and safety by training nursing professionals with the latest health care equipment in a real-life healthcare environment," said Mary Walker, dean of the College of Nursing. "Additionally, the much larger laboratory will allow us to keep pace with our growing enrollments and to consider expanding programs in the future." This expansion will allow the College of Nursing to admit 100 new students over a five-year period, increasing the school's current enrollment to approximately 600 students by the 2009-2010 academic year.
The Clinical Performance Laboratory is part of the Jim and Janet Sinegal Initiative for Nursing Education. The Sinegal's $5 million-gift to the College of Nursing is part of the couple's ongoing commitment to improve access to quality health care. Janet Sinegal is on the board of Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center and Jim Sinegal is president and CEO of Costco and a trustee of Seattle University.
The Clinical Performance Laboratory will benefit from its location in the James Tower Life Sciences Building, which opened this summer after the Sabey Corporation renovated and expanded the historic Providence Hospital building. The close proximity to life science tenants and nearby hospitals will maximize potential collaborations.
The return to the historic site of Providence Hospital represents a homecoming for the nursing program at Seattle University. The Providence Hospital School of Nursing was opened July 16, 1907, with four lay students enrolled. The first class of the Providence Hospital School of Nursing graduated in 1910. The School of Nursing moved to Seattle University in 1935 and changed its name to the College of Nursing in 2003. Sister Susanne Hartung says "With the Seattle University College of Nursing back at Providence, the ministry and legacy founded at Providence many years ago lives on."
Press release posted online on September 19, 2005