Nursing Skills and Technology Center

The Joel Bishop Nursing Skills and Technology Center (NSTC) serves as a significant learning resource environment for the School of Nursing. Located on the fifth floor of the School of Nursing, the center is a multifunctional teaching and learning laboratory that provides an excellent opportunity for independent learning, self and mediated instruction, computer-based instruction, and the practice of nursing skills and critical thinking.

The NSTC is divided into three main learning environments: (a) on-line testing and distance education center, (b) instructional media lab, and (c) skills practice and simulation labs.

The NSTC maintains an extensive collection of learning materials that enhances the learning of problem solving and critical thinking, and fosters clinical skills acquisition. The center offers opportunities for teaching and learning in the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains.

Faculty and Staff
The Nursing Skills and Technology Center (NSTC) faculty and staff provide supportive services to faculty and students in the educational components of the curriculum. With input from the School of Nursing faculty, the NSTC faculty identifies resources appropriate to support and enhance the curriculum, and meet specified outcomes for students. Some of the activities that the NSTC faculty and staff assist with, include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Provides a formal orientation to the use of the NSTC for new students in the School of Nursing.
• Provides guidance and instruction for students
• Acts as a resource for both faculty and students
• Acts as a liaison between the NSTC and individual courses in the curriculum
• Maintains learning equipment and supplies
• Assembles needed resources (i.e. equipment, supplies)
• Sets-up lab experiences
• Administers, grades, and post test for learning experiences in the NSTC. (ex. Dosage and solution practice test, IV module test)
• The Information Technology (IT) Staff assists students with the utilization and troubleshooting of assigned computer based support instruction/software, as well as other resources available to students on computers located in the NSTC. The IT staff member also works with the School of Nursing Computer Support personnel on hardware troubleshooting and updates.

Instructional Media
Students learn at their own pace using instructional media. Instructional media include resources such as computer assisted instruction software, virtual reality simulation programs, interactive video computer programs, and audio/video programs. The hardware equipment necessary to support these software holdings is available and located in a large, open carrel area that has varied patterns of workstations and seats. In an effort to meet student needs the NSTC is moving forward with providing an increasing number of these activities online. In addition, flipcharts, independent learning activities and modules are available.

Skills Laboratories
The learning of nursing skills, an essential part of the curriculum, occurs in several laboratories available for students to practice basic and advanced nursing skills during faculty supervised classes/demonstrations and independent practice time. Students can practice in the fifteen-bed hospital simulation laboratory with each unit consisting of an electric bed, bedside table, over bed table, bedside chair, hand washing facilities, and draw curtains. This lab also includes functional head walls with suction and “oxygen”, as well as a heart monitor, emergency and traditional medicine carts, and a separate medication room with knee gate hand washing facilities. One smaller laboratory provides flexible space for a variety of lab experiences for both individual and small group instruction, e.g., IV therapy. Practice ranges from simple bed making to advanced skills in intensive care. The NSTC has some of the latest professional practice materials and models.

The Advanced Simulation Learning Lab supports undergraduate and graduate student learning outcomes. Central to this lab are computer supported Human Patient simulators (infant, child and adult), and the maternal birthing and neonatal computer interactive simulation systems which react to clinical situations synchronously. An emergency care simulator, intubation models, and an endoscopy simulator allow for specific skill development. Anesthesia systems complete with medical gases and patient monitors compliment the simulators for reality based instruction and practice. This lab is also equipped with recording equipment which can be used for real time shared learning or taping for future reference.

Additional Services
Additional services offered by the center include mastery based-testing and scoring that provides immediate feedback to students, a secured testing area for students, including those students with special accommodations in all testing situations, a computer classroom set-up for small group computer instruction classes and graduate student access to statistical software. Computers are available for students to access their e-mail, check for course information, print via pay paw, scan documents, word process and access the Internet .The student has access to various educational pamphlets models, and posters for patient teaching, as well as specific equipment such as titmus and audiometers for health screening in the community setting. There are two small group work rooms available to students upon request and availability. A student lounge is available for breaks and an additional study area.

Contact Information

	Elizabeth Spivey, MN, RN Director Nursing Skills and Technology Center espive@lsuhsc.edu phone: (504) 568-4219		Michele Lowery Information Technology Analyst Computer Support Services mlower1@lsuhsc.edu phone: (504) 568-5196
	Glenn Jones Administrative Program Specialist A gjones2@lsuhsc.edu phone: (504) 568-4126		Althea Demas Administrative Coordinator ademas@lsuhsc.edu phone: (504) 568-4214
	Marizetta Picou Administrative Coordinator mpico1@lsuhsc.edu phone: (504) 568-4215		Lyubov Kozmenko, BSN, RN Simulation Lab Support Faculty lkozme@lsuhsc.edu phone: (504) 568-4131

Regular Hours

Monday - Friday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

At the beginning of each fall and spring semesters, the NSTC provides extended hours to accommodate student's activities.

Extended Hours *
August 10, 2009 – September 12, 2009

Monday - Friday: 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturdays: 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Sundays: Closed

*Hours are subject to change. Students should verify current hours as posted in the NSTC.

Note: The NSTC will be closed on all official school holidays.

NSTC Online Resources

Click here to access...

*Nursing students, faculty and staff only (authentication required)

Note: When prompted to enter your user ID and password, precede your user ID with the domain name "lsumc-master" followed by a backslash.