New sim lab, Student Center plans finalized
By Sheldon Yoder

The summer has been a busy time for the ORU campus and Special Projects Coordinator Ron Lee. Two of the major campus projects with which he has been heavily involved are the updated Nursing Simulation Laboratory and the Student Center building.

As a result of some much needed renovation, nursing students now have a more modern and better equipped simulation lab. Located off the hallway at the rear of the Deli, the original nursing lab was combined with two adjacent rooms, expanding the lab from a three-bed to an eight-bed layout.

Each hospital bed has been refurbished and outfitted so that it is electronically positionable. Alongside the beds are working air and vacuum systems. For safety reasons the system utilizes regular air instead of oxygen, explained Lee.

The middle bed is a critical care unit complete with a fully computerized monitor and electrocardiograph machine, as well as other automated systems found in hospitals.

"I love it because it's like a real hospital unit," senior nursing student Rachael Kyer said. "It's a much more professional environment."

According to Lee, the University is exploring installing computer terminals above each bed to run simulations and tutorials for nursing students.

Work on the Student Center, while not visible at the site, continued over the summer as well. Lee has been involved in designing floor plans for the new building. After the location of each department was decided, Lee spent time hammering out the fine details of the appearance of each department.

Often, it involved a lot of running back and forth from department to department, showing the proposed floor plans. "[The departments] would look at it and shake their heads and say, 'No we gotta do this and change that,'" Lee said. "Some were like, 'This is perfect; this is wonderful.'"

While the actual floor plans have been completed, Lee said a lot of planning is still required before the actual construction begins.

However, some of the construction over the summer directly affected the building project. The storm-water drainage system for the new parking lot next to the Student Center was built to accommodate rain run-off from the building.

Finals Schedule