Campus News (For more campus news, check the St. Francis College website at sfc.edu)
Nursing Students Put New Technology to the Test
Eileen C. Dugan Life Sciences Center Unveiled
W
tate Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver headed a contingent of local
politicians who came to St. Francis College on June 25 for the formal
unveiling of the Eileen C. Dugan Life Sciences Center. Many of the
lawmakers worked with former Assemblywoman Dugan and remembered her
fondly for the hard work, dedication, and passion she poured into representing
her Brooklyn constituents. The College is grateful to the elected officials who so
generously set aside funding to help make the Center a reality. The Eileen Dugan
Center houses brand new science labs and provides a top-flight environment
for the growing number of health, science and pre-med majors at the College as
well as community programs like the free Summer Science Academy for high
school students. ●
alk into the new
Nursing Labs at
St. Francis College
and you’d be excused for
thinking you left the
College behind and
entered a hospital
emergency ward. That’s
because you’ll find the
exact same equipment
and technology at St.
Hannah Mazure ’16, Merisa Bajraktarevic ’15,
Francis as you would on
and Dillon O’Sullivan ’16 take the vitals on one
any modern medical ward.
of the new SimMan manikins.
The difference is the
patients lying in bed are all
robots that can simulate an almost infinite number of symptoms and problems
for students to diagnose and treat.
“Having the latest technology was the most important thing we needed for
our nursing program,” said Dean of Special Programs Allen Burdowski. “Our
students need to leave St. Francis ready for all the challenges that the real world
throws at today’s nurses.”
The four year undergraduate program in Nursing and the RN to BS program
mean that St. Francis can educate nurses at different stages in their development.
“We take students from the beginning of the educational process and lead
them right to their nursing certification exam,” said Nursing Professor Eleanor
Kehoe. “To be able to train these students from the beginning gives us the
opportunity to really make an impact on the quality of care in New York City.”
Video cameras and microphones dot the ceilings of the new labs to capture
everything that goes on during routine and emergency simulations.
“Being able to go back and look precisely at how our students perform is
invaluable,” said Dean Burdowski. “It lets us find mistakes and pinpoint exactly
what the professors need to work on.”
Demand for the program remains high with requests for information pouring
in almost every day.
The first graduates using all the new technology could be ready to become
nurses in 2016. ●
National Grid Foundation Supports Project Access
W
ith a $15,000 grant, the
National Grid Foundation is
showing its support for the
College’s Project Access Program,
an initiative at St. Francis College
that provides extra tutoring,
mentoring, and monitoring for
students who may not be entirely
ready for the college experience.
“National Grid Foundation
believes in the value of education
Project Access students Anthony
and the power that education has
Carucci ’13, Frank Randall ’15, Phoebe
Lee ’15, Sara Yellen ’15, and Bálint Tóth
in transforming lives,” said Albert
’15 with Vice-Chairman of the National
Wiltshire ’78, Vice Chairman of
Grid Foundation Albert Wiltshire ’78.
the National Grid Foundation at an
event on September 15 held to
welcome the new class of students to the fall semester.
The funds from the Foundation will be used to increase th R