Kettering College Celebrates Opening of Vaughan Center for Nursing Education
Kettering, Ohio (Jan. 22) On Tuesday, Jan. 29, Kettering College of Medical Arts will conduct an open house and dedication ceremony to celebrate the opening of the Anna May Vaughan Center for Nursing Education. The event will run from 2:30-5:30 p.m. in the center, which is located on the ground floor of the college, near the bookstore.
Named in honor of long-time nursing faculty member and college supporter Anna May Vaughan, the new center contains a state-of-the-art nursing skills lab, as well as meeting spaces and faculty offices. At a price tag of $630,000, the center features such technology as virtual IV, computerized charting, and programmable, interactive mannequins that can mimic symptoms of real-life patients.
More than twice the size of the old nursing skills lab built in the 1960s, the center is set up to imitate an emergency department, with each bed space providing the same amenities found in a hospital, including suction and oxygen. Cameras and monitors placed at each station allow faculty members to remain at one bed while instructing an entire class, ensuring continuity of training. The space also features a medications room that will help students learn how to pull medications and prepare them for patients.
“Twenty-seven years ago, we clustered in our tiny skills lab around a bed to learn basic care, using ourselves as surrogate patients,” said Beverly Cobb, RN, Ph.D., a 1972 graduate of Kettering College and currently the director of the Division of Nursing at the school. “Years later, we have sophisticated mannequins with electronic parts, IV pumps, and electronic monitors of all kinds. I feel like we’ve come full circle as I watch our students cluster in small groups in the lab. The goal is still the same – to become nurses who effectively meet human needs – physical, emotional and spiritual.”
“I feel like we were in the Stone Age and have moved up with the Jetsons – that’s how far we’ve come in this move,” said Cherie Rebar, RN, a 1995 Kettering College graduate and chair of the Associate of Science in nursing program. “We’ve gone from the 1960s to tomorrow overnight – that’s in our ability to practice, to teach, and to inspire students to become nurses. We’ve always had the people, now we have the place.”
Faculty members will be on hand during the open house to demonstrate the new technology for visitors. The formal dedication ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. College president Charles Scriven, Ph.D.; dean for enrollment management Victor Brown; and Dr. Cobb, who also is interim dean for academics, will be speaking during the dedication.
Anna May Vaughan, a pioneer in international nursing mission service in Africa and the Far East, was one of the founders of Kettering College. She also was the first director of an academic nursing degree in the greater Dayton area and was instrumental in developing the curriculum that led to the creation of Kettering College of Medical Arts. Bearing her name, the center is a monument to Vaughan’s spirit and leadership. Her legacy includes the founding of the two-year academic nursing degree and providing professional structure for other allied health careers.
About Kettering College of Medical Arts
Kettering College of Medical Arts is a fully accredited, coeducational college that specializes in health science education. A division of Kettering Medical Center, the College is located on the KMC campus in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, and is chartered by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Kettering College offers certificate programs, Associate and Bachelor of Science degrees, and a Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree.
An institution of Christian higher education, Kettering College graduates health care professionals of high character who, in the tradition of the Master Healer, give whole-person care to their patients and generous service to their communities. Eighty percent of Kettering College graduates live and work in Ohio, with the majority settling in the Dayton area.
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