Western Nevada Community College's nursing program will continue to have a rural teaching lab in Fallon at least through 2009, thanks to an agreement between Churchill County, Banner Churchill County Community Hospital and WNCC.
The 2,500-square-foot lab is located in a county-owned building next to Banner's Physician Center North. It has classroom and office space and three well-equipped examination rooms, including computerized simulation mannequins that allow students to hear lifelike sounds from throughout the body. Banner Churchill Community Hospital supplies the equipment.
Most nursing courses are taught at the WNCC Carson City campus. However, since 1993, students have been able to complete the lecture portion of some courses via interactive video at the Fallon campus and at teaching centers in Hawthorne, Lovelock and Yerington. Prior to the opening of the Fallon lab, all clinical and lab instruction had to be completed in Reno at Washoe Medical Center or at Carson-Tahoe Hospital in Carson City.
Dr. Judith Cordia, WNCC's director of allied health, says, "Students need to be well-prepared and comfortable with their skills when they go to work in a hospital. Well-equipped facilities like the new nursing lab in Fallon ensure that students make the transition from classroom to clinical settings comfortably."
The WNCC nursing program was recently reaccredited through 2012 by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. This year 44 graduates will receive their degrees and nursing pins.
For information about the WNCC nursing program, contact the Allied Health office at 775-445-3296 or go to www.wncc.edu/alliedh.
n Submitted by Western Nevada Community College