Regents OK new nursing facility
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents on Friday approved construction of a $17.5 million facility to house a new NU Medical Center College of Nursing Lincoln division.
The facility will help Nebraska fight back against the nursing shortage that’s plaguing the nation, university leaders said.
Construction of the building, to be located at 40th and Holdrege streets on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln East Campus, is scheduled to begin in October 2010 and end in February 2012.
That day can’t come soon enough for the College of Nursing’s Lincoln division, whose current home is in rented space in the Commerce Court building downtown.
Only about 80 students are admitted to the Lincoln division every year — less than half the number of qualified applicants.
The new facility will boast 80 percent more space, allowing for more classrooms, labs and student-faculty interaction areas. The facility also will give nursing students and faculty an on-campus home, something they’ve lacked since moving to Commerce Court about three years ago.
“I am thrilled at the prospect of proper space for our Lincoln division,” College of Nursing Dean Virginia Tilden said in a news release. “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 nursing shortage in Nebraska and elsewhere is expected to worsen in the coming years as current nurses retire and Baby Boomers age and require more medical care.
And more than half of nursing faculty in Nebraska are over age 50, according to Diane Brage Hudson, acting assistant dean of the College of Nursing Lincoln division.
By 2020, Nebraska could be facing a deficit of nearly 4,000 registered nurses.
In addition to Lincoln, the College of Nursing already has divisions in Omaha, Kearney and Scottsbluff. Another nursing division, a partnership between UNMC and Northeast Community College, is in the works in Norfolk.
* Also Friday, the Board of Regents approved the creation of a Center for Transplant Medicine at UNMC. The center will allow UNMC to build on its transplant research and education and is expected to help draw in more federal research money.
Among the center’s focuses: innovative approaches to treating patients with organ failure, including cellular and organ replacement therapies.
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.
The facility will help Nebraska fight back against the nursing shortage that’s plaguing the nation, university leaders said.
Construction of the building, to be located at 40th and Holdrege streets on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln East Campus, is scheduled to begin in October 2010 and end in February 2012.
That day can’t come soon enough for the College of Nursing’s Lincoln division, whose current home is in rented space in the Commerce Court building downtown.
Only about 80 students are admitted to the Lincoln division every year — less than half the number of qualified applicants.
The new facility will boast 80 percent more space, allowing for more classrooms, labs and student-faculty interaction areas. The facility also will give nursing students and faculty an on-campus home, something they’ve lacked since moving to Commerce Court about three years ago.
“I am thrilled at the prospect of proper space for our Lincoln division,” College of Nursing Dean Virginia Tilden said in a news release. “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 nursing shortage in Nebraska and elsewhere is expected to worsen in the coming years as current nurses retire and Baby Boomers age and require more medical care.
And more than half of nursing faculty in Nebraska are over age 50, according to Diane Brage Hudson, acting assistant dean of the College of Nursing Lincoln division.
By 2020, Nebraska could be facing a deficit of nearly 4,000 registered nurses.
In addition to Lincoln, the College of Nursing already has divisions in Omaha, Kearney and Scottsbluff. Another nursing division, a partnership between UNMC and Northeast Community College, is in the works in Norfolk.
* Also Friday, the Board of Regents approved the creation of a Center for Transplant Medicine at UNMC. The center will allow UNMC to build on its transplant research and education and is expected to help draw in more federal research money.
Among the center’s focuses: innovative approaches to treating patients with organ failure, including cellular and organ replacement therapies.
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.
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