Yakima Valley College has received a $427,000 grant that will enable its nursing program to purchase additional simulation equipment so that students can gain experience responding to a variety of real-life health care scenarios.

“YVC’s nursing program is dedicated to making sure our students are ready for the reality of being a nurse,” said E’Raina Hatch, interim director of nursing. “This grant allows us to expand on the simulation equipment that our students will be able to access, providing even more opportunities to build their care-giving skills.”

The grant, provided through supplemental budget funds allocated by the Washington state legislature, will support the purchase of:

  • A cardiopulmonary patient simulator, called “Harvey,” which can realistically simulate nearly any cardiac disease at the touch of a button by varying blood pressure, pulses, heart sounds, murmurs and breath sounds.
  • A Nursing Anne Geriatric Simulator designed for scenario-based training for the care and management of basic patient handling skills to advanced nursing skills working with geriatric patients.
  • SimCapture, a learning management solution for healthcare simulation and education that allows faculty to effectively manage, record and assess simulation training, both on- and off-site. The web-based tool will enable YVC’s nursing program to capture audio, video, annotations, patient monitors and simulator data in a single web-based interface.
  • A simulated mobile medication cart that replicates the realism of bedside medication administration for point-of-care delivery. Combined with a simulated medical record system and medication administration software, the SimCart enables educators to more effectively simulate medication administration while promoting patient safety and best practices.
  • Access to a digital library of pre-developed, expert-validated teaching simulations that instructors can use in their courses with all of the simulators owned by YVC’s nursing program. This content ensures YVC nursing students will receive up-to-date, immersive training that will allow them to gain exposure to more real-life situations involving patients.
  • Three new hospital beds used in nursing simulation labs to replace older beds.

“The vast majority of our graduates stay right here in the Yakima Valley,” Hatch noted. “Thanks to this grant, our graduates will be even better prepared to care for their patients and elevate the quality of care our community will receive.”

YVC offers a six-quarter program (two academic years) that leads to an Associate in Nursing Direct Transfer Degree (ADN-DTA/MRP) as well as a four-quarter program (one academic year) that leads to a Practical Nurse Certificate.