HAMLET —Richmond Community College has gotten the green light from FirstHealth to move forward with its plan to create a simulation facility at the former Moore Regional Hospital — adjacent to the college’s main campus.
Projected to open in the fall, the facility will give nursing students more hands-on opportunities with lifelike robotic simulators, allowing them to put classroom theory into practice without causing harm to real-life patients.
School officials said the simulation hospital will also benefit RichmondCC’s nursing program if it receives the specialized national accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. The accreditation would allow the nursing department to use simulation in 50 percent of clinicals.
Currently, the North Carolina Board of Nursing limits the use of simulation in clinicals to 25 percent of the 96 hours per semester.
“We’ve been talking about this simulation hospital with FirstHealth for about a year, and they are very committed to this project and its potential to help the nursing shortage,” RCC President Dale McInnis said. “It will also impact the quality of nurses we are sending out into the healthcare facilities in our area.”
McInnis said the college is considering “innovative ways” its other health science programs can use the facility, including Allied Health and Human Services Technology.
