The University of Nebraska Board of Regents today approved the construction of an estimated $17.5 million new facility to house the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing Lincoln Division. The University of Nebraska has identified the project as its top capital funding priority for 2009.
The facility will be located in Lincoln just north of the UNMC College of Dentistry at 40th & Holdrege streets and east of the Maxwell Arboretum, on the east campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Construction of the new building is tentatively scheduled to begin October 2010, with completion estimated in February 2012, when the lease expires on the downtown Commerce Court Building, where the college is temporarily housed.
The new facility will help the college prepare more nurses with bachelor’s degrees, meet increasing student demand, and reduce the serious nursing shortage in Nebraska. It also will help attract and prepare more nurses with master’s and doctoral degrees in specialty areas, as well as for leadership and faculty positions.
“I am thrilled at the prospect of proper space for our Lincoln Division,” said Virginia Tilden, D.N.Sc., dean of the UNMC College of Nursing. “The division is most deserving of a new building because of its vital role in preparing the nursing workforce for the surrounding area, including future faculty for Nebraska’s nursing schools. This facility will let us strategically expand enrollments and programs and will give faculty and students the 21st century teaching, learning and research environment they deserve.”
The Lincoln Division is attractive to applicants in large part because of its collegiate environment, Dr. Tilden said. Each year, the Lincoln Division receives many more qualified applicants than it can admit to its bachelor of science in nursing program. It can only admit about 40 to 50 percent a year – about 80 qualified applicants a year. A majority of graduates are employed in the Lincoln area.
By 2020, with the new building, Dr. Tilden estimated the college will be admitting 64 more qualified student applicants — 40 in the bachelor’s program, 16 in the master’s program and eight in the doctoral program. Seven faculty and six researchers also will be added, she said.
The multi-story structure will contain 29,136 net square feet – an increase of about 80 percent more space than the current facility. It will feature classrooms and class labs with advanced teaching technology, student and faculty interaction areas, faculty offices, and space for nursing research programs.
UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said a new home for the Lincoln Division, among a number of benefits, would serve the community of Lincoln and beyond. “We’re delighted
the Board of Regents approved this investment in improving the health of Nebraska through world-class nursing education. It will make a lasting, positive impact on Nebraska. We are fortunate to have the regents’ support and the support of the university and community to make this important project happen.”
Nebraska, like other states across the country, is in the midst of an increasing demand for nurses to fill a shortage that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. The nursing shortage is not a result of low interest in nursing careers, said Dr. Tilden, instead, applications to nursing schools exceed capacity of educational programs.
Although about 20,000 registered nurses are employed in Nebraska, most hospitals and nursing homes report staff shortages and many unfilled registered nurse positions. This shortage will worsen in the coming years as nurses retire and as the baby boomers age and require more medical care. By 2020, it is estimated the state will have a deficit of almost 4,000 registered nurses.
Diane Brage Hudson, Ph.D., acting assistant dean, UNMC College of Nursing Lincoln Division said a state-of-the-art facility located on a campus environment along with expanded nursing research will help attract the best faculty.
“Increasing the number of faculty is one of the ways we can increase the numbers of nurses in the pipeline,” Dr. Brage Hudson said. “Nursing faculty shortages are reducing the ability to educate and increase the number of nursing graduates.”
She said currently 55 percent of nursing faculty in Nebraska are over age 50.
Established in 1974, the Lincoln Division employs 32 faculty and six staff. Annual enrollment is 261 students — 195 bachelor’s degree candidates, 62 master’s degree candidates and four doctoral candidates. Since 2005, faculty, students and staff have been temporarily located two blocks from the main UN-L campus in the Commerce Court Building, 1230 O St.
Prior to location in the Commerce Court Building, the Lincoln Division was located in Benton and Fairfield Halls on the UNL campus. The space, originally a residence hall, and later minimally modified for offices and classrooms was inadequate for educational purposes. By 2005, deferred maintenance and dated air and heating systems made the facilities no longer adequate for 21st century teaching and learning.
Marisa Headley, a nursing student in Lincoln, said a new facility will give students a better educational experience. “Right now, the classrooms are at capacity. The computer lab is packed every day so when it comes time for computer testing, some students must go to other rooms and use laptops, which isn’t an equal testing environment. Having a new college facility would provide a better learning atmosphere and boost morale among students.”
Co-location of the UNMC College of Nursing Lincoln Division and UNMC College of Dentistry also will enable each college to share classroom space and auditoriums, and as well as provide dental students with labs for teaching clinical skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It also will enable sharing of instructional and communication technology and information technology staff.
The UNMC College of Nursing, based in Omaha, has divisions in Lincoln, Kearney and Scottsbluff. One half of Nebraska’s bachelors prepared nurses are graduates of the UNMC College of Nursing.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $82 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu. -30-