Crowder To Renovate Lab

The Jane Crowder College Campus Nursing Skills Lab is undergoing a renovation that will help shape a successful future for nursing

students.

The Jane Crowder College Campus Nursing Skills Lab is undergoing a renovation that will help shape a successful future for nursing students.

“We are going through an unbelievable renovation right now,” Aaron Divine, McDonald County instructional site director, said.

Officials are grateful to a local legislator who fought for additional funding to support the nursing field.

“We have one of the best representatives in the state in Dirk Deaton, and he was able to champion a bill through the legislature that provided the college with the funds to complete this remodel,” Divine said.

When the fall semester begins, the nursing skills lab will resemble a hospital patient’s room, Divine said.

The lab will feature a nurses’ station, medication cabinet, and an observation room that will allow students to simulate medical situations without the nursing faculty being physically present.

Faculty will be able to communicate with the students and manipulate the simulators from the observation room, giving the students the ability to experience situations that they’ll encounter once they join the workforce, Divine said.

“This model is at the forefront of medical training, and we’ll have one of the best facilities in the region once it’s completed,” he said.

Rep. Dirk Deaton-R was able to amend the state’s budget to include $332,500 for Crowder College’s nursing program. The additional dollars in the fiscal year 2020 budget will allow the college to develop and offer a practical nursing program at the Nevada campus, and double the size of the nursing program at the McDonald County campus, according to a press release previously issued by Deaton’s office.

The funding encompasses an expanded program in Nevada that will create a new LPN program and provide an opportunity for students who need training beyond that of a certified nurse’s assistant.

The funding also equates to space for 50 nursing students at the Jane campus, an increase from 25.

Deaton’s office said the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates a 12 percent increase in LPNs until 2026. Crowder College’s service area saw more than 900 LPNs employed during 2017.

Approximately $100,000 already has been released to Crowder College, Deaton said in an email this week. The remaining $232,500 will be released, or withheld, in the next three months, he said.

State officials are feeling the financial effects of the covid-19 pandemic.

“Due to the economic fallout related to COVID19, Governor Parson is now faced with the reality that our revenues are likely to not be what we had projected when crafting the 2020 budget last year,” Deaton said.

“The Governor has the power to restrict funds from being released in order to balance the budget if it becomes necessary. Governor Parson recently withheld 175 million from the budget (this Crowder money is not a part of that) and more withholds are possible,” he said.

Deaton said he felt compelled to secure the funds because it will boost the area’s commerce and health care system.

“Regardless of what metric you look at, Crowder College is at the bottom of the list when it comes to state funding,” Deaton said. “For me, this funding would, in a small way, start to address that inequality while supporting an industry demanded need in Crowder’s nursing program.”

Growing the program builds for the future, he said.

“Crowder’s nursing program has a stellar reputation among our local health care providers, so when I heard there was the potential to expand their program, there was never a doubt in my mind it was the right thing to do,” Deaton said.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Jane Campus will be held at a later date, Divine said.

“Crowder’s nursing program has a stellar reputation among our local health care providers, so when I heard there was the potential to expand their program, there was never a doubt in my

mind it was the right thing to do.”

Rep. Dirk Deaton

Missouri House of Representatives