“The College of New Rochelle has a long standing reputation for educating nurses who are academically prepared to provide care with a holistic perspective including the mind, body, and spirit, and ready to address healthcare needs of individuals, families, and groups. We are able to do so with a strong faculty who provide personal attention to each student. ”

Gloria Benhuri
Director of
Learning Resource Center for Nursing
School of Nursing
The College of New Rochelle

Gloria, tell us a little about your nursing background.
I graduated from Hahnemann Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia with a diploma in nursing. I practiced in pediatrics from general to I.C.U., cardiac catheterization, and emergency room. At the time, no programs existed for an R.N. to B.S. as we have now. Therefore, as I moved around, I attended many colleges with various majors. After my children were born, I went back to college to realize that all of my interests were included in nursing. I worked in child abuse prevention education for 20 years and provided programs on various topics from child abuse to geriatrics. I finished my R.N.B.S. at C.W. Post College, Long Island University and received a masters degree in nursing education at Molloy College in New York. I am currently in a doctoral program in Educational Leadership and Educational Technology at the University of Phoenix.

What are the classes in the School of Nursing that you teach?
Although I taught health assessment, psycho-social nursing, leadership, psychiatric clinical, and some other courses, I currently teach Fundamentals of Nursing with Dr. Geraldine Valencia-Go Go here at CNR, and I work with Nursing II and IV students with simulations.
 
Tell us what the Learning Resource Center for Nursing—the LCN—is all about.
The Learning Resource Center for Nursing (LCN) is a multipurpose facility located in the lower level of Angela Hall.
    We offer two nursing skills laboratories. These include diagnostic/ clinical decision making tools and equipment. The annex lab is a state of the art area for health assessment for undergraduates and graduates.
    The LCN video/DVD center, for example, offers an assortment of 650 videos (many updated) covering nursing specific topics. Students are given their own copies of necessary skill sets on DVD format along with their Advanced Technology Incorporated (ATI) books. Currently, we have three TV/Video/DVD players and several TV/Video players along with desktop computers and laptop computers for students who do not bring theirs.
    Two computer laboratories are available for student use. Both laboratories are equipped with a wide variety of nursing software to support and enhance classroom learning. The LCN also has 100 CD ROM programs, most of which are interactive nursing learning programs and case studies. We have “MicroSims,” an interactive simulation program for students to practice hospital-based care. In addition, the LCN has streaming video available both in-house and at home for Bates Health Assessment.
    One half of the large computer laboratory now houses two nursing units with mobile walls. One room is a full obstetrical suite, complete with a motorized manikin who delivers a baby and special neonatal equipment. Several “infants” are available for practicing skills. The second room is a full intensive care suite with all necessary, modern equipment. The computerized manikin simulates heart and lung sounds, blood pressure, electrocardiogram impulses, and she/he speaks. Various medical-surgical “patients” can be set up in the lab.
    We also have a home care suite, living room-bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen with a manikin. Community Health students learn to perform a home assessment prior to going out with a visiting nurse. Thanks to the Verizon grant, we instituted Telenursing into the suite. This is the first in a college program. The electronic equipment for video and distance observation is slated to be set up soon.

You have mentioned that nurses today have to arrive on the job ready to work, so these rooms and this equipment prepares them?
From a hospital’s point of view, every week of orientation for a new nurse costs them for salary, benefits, and educators. The more prepared new nurses are for the “real world,” the more desirable the graduates are for the hospitals. Our equipment and simulations especially, help in this effort.

What changes do you see occurring in your area for preparing students for nursing careers?
In July, the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) will vote on standards for simulation. Once this vote goes through, standardized learning objectives and scenarios for simulations will be the norm. Currently, when a student graduates from an accredited nursing school, they take the state board exams (NCLEX) in order to practice. The plan is that in the near future, the boards will not only be the computer exam. Students will need to go to an approved simulation center and pass a simulation to pass their boards. Therefore, simulation experience is a necessary part of nursing education today.

Why do you think that CNR School of Nursing is a good choice for any nursing student?
The College of New Rochelle has a long standing reputation for educating nurses who are academically prepared to provide care with a holistic perspective including the mind, body, and spirit, and ready to address healthcare needs of individuals, families, and groups. We are able to do so with a strong faculty who provide personal attention to each student.  .