UNC’s School of Nursing recently received the largest private donation in the school’s history, furthering efforts to renew and renovate Carrington Hall, the nursing school’s home since 1969.
A $6.8 million dollar gift was just awarded to UNC’s School of Nursing from the Helene Fuld Health Trust, the nation’s largest charitable trust devoted exclusively to supporting nursing students and nursing education.
This gift will contribute to a larger project to renew Carrington Hall. The renewal project initially received $45 million dollars in appropriations from the North Carolina General Assembly in July 2020 and is scheduled to break ground in January 2023 and open in January of 2025.
Nena Peragallo Montano is dean and professor at the UNC School of Nursing. Montano said it was an honor to receive this grant money.
“Being the number one public school of nursing in the country, I think it’s a well-deserved recognition for our students, our faculty, our staff and for everybody at our university,” Montano said. “We are very grateful.”
$6.3 million dollars of the award money will go towards providing a new, state-of-the-art simulated clinical environment for nursing students at Carolina. Montano said simulation labs imitate clinical training and allow students to take a more experiential approach to their learning.
“Through the pandemic, some of the clinical sites were restricted or closed to students across the country,” Montano said. “So clinical simulation and training, especially in North Carolina, has been critical to continue with the student’s hands-on education and experience.”
Montano said simulation learning has never been more imperative as nurses prepare for a new healthcare climate amid a global pandemic.
“Also, it has allowed us to graduate students on time to really help the shortage of nurses that our state faces,” Montano said. “We are unfortunately the state with the second-worst shortage of nurses in the U.S.”
Montano said simulation labs can mimic a variety of trauma and emergency scenarios – like birthing experiences or cardiac arrests – in a safe environment, providing students with the confidence to handle a similar scenario in the real world.
“It allows the students to assess, to problem solve and to communicate and to advocate effectively,” Montano said. “These skills are essential to the art of quality care and the science of patient safety, so it’s an incredible investment.”
Outside of the simulation center, half a million from this gift will go toward scholarships for the school’s accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. This rigorous, fast-paced program allows students to obtain their nursing degree in just four semesters – which ultimately puts more nurses in the field faster.
Lead photo via the UNC School of Nursing.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines