ALBANY — Albany Technical College nursing students will be able to study in the college’s newly renovated nursing lab for the summer quarter after school officials held a ribbon cutting to open the lab Tuesday, the first day of summer classes.
The old nursing lab was an open room with six beds — three to each side — with curtains separating the beds in a ward style, said Dorothy Garner, dean of academic affairs for health technology programs.
“We decided to renovate it and make individual rooms so it would simulate a hospital setting,” she said. “Phoebe (Putney Memorial Hospital) had just renovated some floors, so we wanted to look at those.”
After looking at Phoebe and the private rooms at Palmyra Medical Centers, Garner said the school decided to renovate the nursing lab so that students would be more comfortable in a similar hospital setting.
“When you’re going into the clinical setting, the students are already (nervous), but we can give them an environment that is similar and it cuts down on the anxiety,” she said.
“They will be afforded the opportunity to practice in an environment (similar to a hospital’s) and they will not feel belittled or inferior (when the go on to an actual medical facility).”
The renovation, a $350,000 project paid for with state funds, tuition and fees, began in January and was completed in late June, said Operations Director Lavon Ackley.
About 50 students and employees of ATC were present at the short ceremony Tuesday.
“Many of us are getting a little older than we used to be and spending a little more time with the medical community,” ATC President Anthony Parker said during the ribbon cutting. “(So) it’s important we have the resources we need.”
The building was renovated after the 1994 flood that caused damage throughout the city.
In addition to private rooms, the renovated area has a nurse’s station and a nursery for infant care.
Nursing students enrolled in the summer quarter’s program will be the first to use the new lab, as Tuesday was the first day of classes.