MCC nursing student Jennifer Guerra speaks during the ceremony (Photo courtesy MCC)

by Caitlin Buckley

Middlesex Community College celebrated the opening of the new simulation and skills labs with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, November 20. Held at MCC’s new Health Education and Laboratory Technology Hub (H.E.A.L.T.H.) Building in Lowell, the event honored the development and opening of the project that serves students in the college’s nursing associate degree and licensed practical nursing (LPN) programs.

“This new lab presents opportunity, a space where curiosity meets resources, ideas come to life, and learning becomes a reality,” said Jennifer Guerra, of Woburn, an MCC nursing student and speaker during the ribbon cutting. “It will enable us to go beyond the textbooks and lectures, allowing us to test, create and innovate in an interactive environment. This nursing lab is more than a physical space. It represents a promise. It signifies that our college believes in us, the students. It recognizes the challenges we face and the dreams that we hold onto tightly. This lab will provide us with the tools we need to succeed.”

In addition to Guerra, the event featured guest speakers Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler and MCC President Phil Sisson, Director of Nurse Education Susan Lavallee, Dean of Health Karen Townsend and Nursing Faculty Member Sharon Hamel.

“Think about all the people who dreamed of a profession as a nurse or something in that capacity,” Secretary Tutwiler said in his remarks. “This is the space that creates the pathway to realizing that dream. We know there are significant shortages in the profession. This is the kind of facility that will address the issue. It’s answering the call. This space doubles the capacity of the number of students who can be served here.”

(left to right) MCC Student Angelica Louis, State Representative Tara Hong, MCC Board of Trustees Chairman James Campbell, State Representative Rodney Elliott, MCC Director of Nurse Education Susan Lavallee, MCC President Phil Sisson, Mass. Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, State Representative Vanna Howard, MCC Nursing Faculty Member Sharon Hamel, MCC Dean of Health Karen Townsend, MCC nursing student Jennifer Guerra

“As a public, open access institution, this project happened because of support from the state,” President Sisson said in his remarks. “MCC’s nursing program is one of the largest in the state with a 100 percent pass rate on the NCLEX [National Council Licensure Examination] for the past three years. Everything we do at Middlesex is for our students and our students make us proud every single day. The ones here with us today have the legacy of excellence in simulation.”

The simulation and skills labs were funded in part by a Nursing Expansion Grant and Massachusetts Skills Capital Grant totaling $975,000. The renovation will allow MCC’s nursing programs to collaborate on curriculum, simulation and equipment use. Training opportunities will be available to students in MCC’s other health programs and community employer partners, as well as both nursing programs.

“This renovation is a beautiful representation of both the college and the Commonwealth’s commitment to many things,” Townsend said in her remarks. “The labs address the healthcare worker shortage, provide our students with the highest quality education they could possibly get to keep them on par with any student in the state, and create learning spaces for students that is welcoming and free of any unnecessary burdens.”

“We are here today on the heels of many dreams, including the dreams of students who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to be here,” Lavallee said in her remarks. “It’s my great honor to come full circle and lead this incredibly talented team of nurse educators. They are talented and dedicated and each one of them understands why they’re here at MCC. Our intent is to raise the workforce.”

Through the renovation, the labs include manikins, high-fidelity simulators, Sim Pad Plus, hospital equipment for sim bays, complete nurses’ command stations, and nursing skills laboratory stations.

“We now have a state-of-the-art nursing lab,” Hamel said in her remarks. “Clinical simulation provides students with individual opportunities that may not be available in today’s healthcare world. Simulation affords autonomy, confidence and self-recognition of learning moments in a safe and confidential environment for our students.”