UCA nursing students Alex Shaffer, Maggie Mehl and Grace Tolliver join Ashley M. Blankenship and Elizabeth Blankenship during a check presentation to the UCA Department of Nursing.
The University of Central Arkansas Foundation, Inc. has received $215,500 to support the Nursing Simulation Lab in the Department of Nursing.
“Nursing has afforded me the opportunity to care for a lot of individuals,” said Elizabeth A. Blankenship, CEO of Southridge Village Nursing and Rehabilitation. “With our ability to gift to the nursing program, the students will have some of the best technology available to them, and I believe it will assist in their training and education.”
Blankenship, along with her daughters and fellow UCA alumnae, Ashley M. Blankenship and Gretchen E. Humphreys, made the gift in a presentation that included UCA faculty, staff and students.
UCA President Tom Courtway expressed gratitude to the Blankenship family, “Thank you very much for your generosity. Thank you, more than anything else, for believing in UCA and believing in this college and this department.”
The gift will help outfit the Department of Nursing with a high fidelity manikin, as well as cameras, microphones, a control station and other equipment to record student performance.
“The high fidelity manikin will be remotely controlled by the instructor and modified in real time to evaluate the skill and problem-solving ability of a student or student team,” said Dr. Barbara Williams, chair of the Department of Nursing. “The student and/or instructor can then watch the video and determine performance gaps and identify areas for improvement or to evaluate the care.”
Since its establishment in 1967, the UCA Department of Nursing has played a leadership role in nursing education. Three programs are offered, including the Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Masters of Science in Nursing and the Doctor of Nursing Practice. Consistently responding to the needs of students, changes in health care and education standards, UCA’s nursing degree programs ensure that students are prepared for a quickly evolving healthcare environment.
