A New Time, A New Place: Emory Nursing Learning Center Opens
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Some years back, it was clear that the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing had outgrown the building at 1520 Clifton Road.
There were so many students, one faculty member joked, they were stacked to the ceiling.
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HIGH-TECH SIMULATION: The Simulation and Clinical Skills Labs at the ENLC are among the largest and most advanced in Georgia. Simulations are one of the key parts of nursing edu-cation, and the learning center will provide ample space and employ the latest technology to let students and instructors work through real-life scenarios, rang-ing from childbirth to geriatric care to disaster drills.
For some time, McCauley and Sharon Pappas, chief nurse executive for Emory Healthcare, had dreamed of a new interpro-fessional education building with simulation, clinical skills, and classroom space for nursing, medical, and physical therapy students.
The idea had its proponents but never gained the traction needed to move forward. McCauley looked to renovate existing space somewhere on the Emory campus, but the buildings she considered were either too small or slated for use by other schools and units.
McCauley formed a team to explore purchase and leasing options around Atlanta. They looked at several properties, but nothing clicked until they toured 250 East Ponce, an eight-story office building in Decatur, a short drive or bus ride from Emory. Four lower floors were coming up for lease when team members toured the space.
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STAIRWAY TO LEARNING: The ENLC’s lobby, known as the student commons, is an open, light-filled space intended to make everyone who enters feel welcome.
Less than three years later, the school officially opened the Emory Nursing Learning Center (ENLC) at the 250 East Ponce location. The $20.6 million, seventy-thou-sand-square-foot center was designed to prepare nursing students to engage in interactive technology and experiential learn-ing environments that will enable them to be the next generation of nurse leaders.
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INNOVATION HUB: Located at the top of the staircase on the second floor, the Innovation Hub is a place “where ideas will collide,” says associate dean Beth Ann Swan, executive director of the ENLC. The hub features glass walls, white boards, and movable furniture designed to ebb and flow with the ideas. such as artificial intelligence programs and patient care devices, that take shape there.
Pappas and other Emory Healthcare nurses helped conceive the design and build-out of the simulation, clinical skills, and other spaces at the learning center.
Currently, Pappas is looking to fill one thousand nursing positions across the Emory Healthcare system. Many of the open posts were held by nurses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The learning center can provide students with the clinical and leadership skills that Pappas and her staff look for when hiring nurses to fill those vacancies.
Read more about the Emory Nursing Learning Center in Emory Nursing Magazine.