We provided architectural, engineering and interior design services for the 2013 relocation of the Ellis Medicine Belanger School of Nursing to newly renovated space in a 1991 commercial office building. The project was constrained by a very tight budget and the geometry of available space. An open and continuous dialogue with the School’s administration and faculty resulted in an optimized plan for the space program.
Academic spaces include two 24 student classrooms and a flexible, sub-dividable 100 student lecture hall. Teaching spaces are equipped for multi-media presentation and projected teacher demonstration. The computer lab has 24 workstations and supports individual study, testing and review. The 7-bed Nursing Skills Lab provides a hands-on facility for nursing instruction, lecture and presentation space for 24 students, and includes a demonstration bench for hands-on study of anatomy. A variety of bed stations are provided, including medical/surgical, neo-natal, pediatric and emergency care. In addition to these instructional spaces the plan also includes an informal study lounge, student lounge and a general purpose conference room for private study, tutoring and student-faculty meetings.
A state-of-the-art Simulation Lab is provided. This space includes a patient bed station and separate control / observation booth. It can be configured to simulate multiple hospital environments, including med/surg, isolation room and emergency. The computer control produces the teaching scenario and monitors/records the session, which can be observed in real time or subsequently on any authorized faculty workstation in the facility. In the adjacent Nursing Skills Lab, two bed stations are outfitted with appropriate mannequin connections, cameras and microphones/speakers to provide additional simulation capability. The modular system allows expansion as additional resources become available. In addition to supporting the Belanger School of Nursing, this facility will support Hospital continuing education and training.
