Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa held a special blessing ceremony for its new nursing education Simulation Center Monday, Feb. 5. Dr. Carla Lynch, RSU associate dean, School of Nursing and Health Professions, and Samantha Rhea, assistant professor of nursing and undergraduate program coordinator, were among the invited guests to the ceremony.
Saint Francis Hospital has a tradition of blessing new facilities before opening them to the public, with the Simulation Center established to train students in Rogers State University’s nursing program.
In April 2023, Saint Francis Health System and RSU announced a partnership to educate students in the nursing program at Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, with Saint Francis to serve as an extended campus of the university and RSU to award the Bachelor of Science in Nursing upon students’ graduation. This partnership allows RSU to increase its capacity to educate nurses, with the first cohort beginning their time on campus at Saint Francis Hospital at the beginning of this semester in January.
“This blessing ceremony reinforces the shared values of excellence, dignity, justice, integrity and stewardship as we partner to educate the next generation of registered nurses in Oklahoma,” Dr. Lynch said.
Deacon Pius Devasahayam, chaplain for Saint Francis Health System, offered the blessing, after which guests toured the Simulation Center.
Saint Francis renovated a 6,000-square-foot area within the hospital to house the ultramodern Simulation Center and classrooms designed to educate the next generation of healthcare professionals. The new Simulation Center includes four high-fidelity simulation suites designed to replicate Saint Francis inpatient rooms. These suites include medical/surgical nursing, critical care, labor and delivery, trauma and pediatrics settings, complete with sophisticated manikins that simulate breathing, sweating, talking and even giving birth. There are additional spaces for task and skills training, along with future plans for virtual reality seminars.
“This Simulation Center will serve RSU nursing students attending the traditional BSN program at the Saint Francis extended campus through our partnership with Saint Francis – a partnership that has allowed us to admit 16 additional students every semester,” Lynch said. “This means that RSU and Saint Francis can together produce an additional 32 registered nurses annually.”
The Saint Francis extended campus was underwritten for the first three years by a grant from the William K. Warren Foundation.
For more information about the BSN program at Rogers State University, visit www.rsu.edu/bsn. For more information about the RSU Nursing at Saint Francis extended campus and earning a BSN at this extended campus location in Tulsa, visit www.rsu.edu/sfh.