New Fayetteville Tech nursing center gives nurses state-of-the-art training

Fayetteville Technical Community College is confronting the nursing shortage head-on by expanding its nursing program.

A tour of the new Nursing Education and Simulation Center showed a state-of-the-art facility packed with the latest technology.

It's a state of the art facility with many mannequins that cost about $40,000. The mannequins can emulate all types of simulations. He can even talk to the nursing students.

Talking mannequins with eyes that glow. They can signal a variety of medical conditions. This is state-of-the-art medical training for nursing students at Fayetteville Technical Community College.

When the school cuts the ribbon on this new facility, it will provide expanded hands-on training for more than 250 nursing students who are needed all over the country, but especially in this community.

"Between Womack, Cape Fear Valley, tons of long-term care facilities, we have a lot to offer in this community," said FTCC Dean of Nursing Dr. Murtis Worth. "And so we need to supply the health care."

"Experiences the students are having at FTCC are real-life experiences," said Dr. Worth.

Sally Augustine is a nursing instructor here at Fayetteville Tech. She says expanding the program with more high-tech mannequins builds confidence in students and gets them ready for real-world nursing.

"They'll talk back," said nursing instructor Sally Augustine. "You can feel their chest rising and falling. So you can really use a stethoscope and listen to their lung sounds. You can also listen to their heartbeat."

And then there's Victoria. She's a $100,000 mannequin that can give birth to a child. It's a big change from when Dr. Worth received her nursing training at Fayetteville Tech some 25 years ago.

"All the mannequins were hard plastic," Dr. Worth said. "They didn't move. They didn't do anything. That was a major change in technology for that."

It's an experience these students are going to really enjoy come January.

Currently, the state Nursing Board only allows FTCC to have a maximum of 280 students in the program. However, with the 32-bed, 10-room expansion, FTCC is applying to be allowed to train 400 nurses at a time.