West Virginia Junior College Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Mobile Simulation Lab To Provide Medical Training To Rural Populations

The mobile simulation lab will provide access to nursing education for both currently practicing nurses and future nurses currently in nursing school.

The West Virginia Junior College (WVJC) School of Nursing at Mon Health has a new 38-foot mobile nursing lab, customized with two simulation hospital rooms and other equipment and supplies needed for practical nursing skill training.

The mobile simulation lab will provide access to nursing education for both currently practicing nurses and future nurses currently in nursing school.

David Goldberg, president and CEO of Mon Health System, said mobile training units help reach nurses and students in rural areas.

“As everyone knows, West Virginia, we’re a rural state,” Goldberg said. “So, making sure that we have tools to be able to train our staff that are all around the state with consistency is important. A lot of our rural communities don’t have access to state-of-the-art simulation equipment. This vehicle will give us the ability to go out to rural communities and reinforce opportunities to the nurses.”

The mobile unit will help with the healthcare worker shortage in the state by offering new and required training, brought to them on wheels. The highly specialized vehicle features a central control room, realistic simulation manikins, video recording and viewing technology.

“Our healthcare system is always in need of skilled nurses throughout the state,” said Chad Callen, CEO of WVJC. “This collaboration will allow our 18-month nursing program to extend the geographic reach of simulation training, especially in rural communities where access may be limited.”

The mobile simulation lab was made possible through donations by Ron and Stephanie Stovash, The Health Plan and the Hazel Ruby McQuain Trust.

Program Aims To Address Nursing Shortage In W.Va.

A West Virginia healthcare system has partnered with a junior college on a program aimed at addressing the shortage of nurses in the state.

Mon Health System and West Virginia Junior College signed a letter of intent on Monday to launch a nursing education program that will put students at the school on an accelerated path to becoming nurses, officials said during a signing ceremony.

Mon Health nurses will serve as faculty and the students will have digital coursework as well as learning through work at the hospital, what Mon Health System President and CEO David Goldberg called patient-side, The Dominion Post reported.

The program plans to open enrollment in September and start its first class next April.

The collaboration, Goldberg said, will serve “to bring not only the best nurses to patient-side through Mon Health, but keep people in this community, grow our own, take care of our own neighbors, family members and friends, so we continue to be the best health care location in north-central West Virginia and improve our health care outcomes.”

West Virginia Junior College CEO Chad Callen said nursing shortages are at near crisis levels in some areas of the state.

“Such challenges require bold thinking and innovative, out-of-the-box approaches,” he said.

A Nursing Lab On Wheels Seeks To Grow Health Care Education In Rural Counties

A mobile nursing lab is bringing health care education to 19 rural counties in West Virginia. The 38-foot RV, which serves as a retrofitted lab, is the first of its kind in the state.

West Virginia Junior College’s (WVJC) Mobile Nursing Lab features two simulated hospital rooms with high-fidelity simulation technology. That includes high-tech, computerized mannequins that help create life-like situations.

It’s part of a new Hybrid Online Nursing Program offered through the school. WVJC has campuses in Charleston, Morgantown and Bridgeport. It’s also online.

According to a news release, the program aims to solve rural health care disparities and worker shortages by bringing education opportunities directly to communities, and offer classes in an innovative way.

“This new program and our Mobile Nursing Lab will help give individuals across the state access to educational opportunities they’ve not had before,” said Chad Callen, chairman of the board at West Virginia Junior College.

Students in the program will be able to take classes online and then attend labs in the mobile van on nights and weekends as well as have clinical experiences.

Inside one of the simulated hospital rooms in the Mobile Nursing Lab.

The program targets four rural regions in southern and north central West Virginia.

Region 1 includes Randolph, Barbour, Tucker, Taylor, Upshur and Lewis counties. Region 2 is made up of Braxton, Gilmer, Calhoun, Roane and Jackson counties. Region 3 includes Logan, Wyoming, Mingo and McDowell counties, and Region 4 consists of Nicholas, Greenbrier, Summers and Monroe counties.

“This program will help build career opportunities for those in our rural communities for generations and aid in bringing vital health care services to the areas of our state that are most in need,” Callen said.

West Virginia Junior College said its ultimate goal is to connect students with health care providers, or program affiliates, and to teach and expand the state’s nursing workforce.

West Virginia Junior College was established in Charleston in 1892.