A new Montana State University College of Nursing building has opened in Billings, offering students hands-on learning opportunities as Montana faces a widespread health professional shortage.
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51 of Montana's 56 counties face a federal health professional shortage, according to NBC News; a crisis that hits rural communities especially hard.
The ribbon was cut on the Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing building on 1040 N. 29th St., a project that was years in the making.
"It was about five years in the making," MSU Nursing Billings Campus Assistant Department Head Mary Pankratz said.
The facility features simulation labs equipped with advanced training tools designed to prepare students for real-world clinical situations.
"It's a really, really cool addition to our nursing curriculum. We have a really great space for studying. These sim labs are super awesome," MSU nursing student Rachael Marsh said.
"We have like a mannequin that can talk to us and it has respiratory breathing patterns and pulses and it's just a safe space to practice," MSU nursing student Emily Sellers said.
Previously, MSU nursing students traveled to healthcare facilities around Billings for labs and clinicals. Pankratz said the new building gives students a home base and a sense of community.
"They'll do skills, they'll do foundation practice, they will do health assessment things. And so this gives them a real life, low simulate, like low fidelity simulated environment," Pankratz said.
For Billings Clinic Chief Nursing Officer Dania Block, the building carries a deeper personal meaning.
"This building represents more than a place to learn. For my family, it represents generations of opportunity," Block said.
Block was honored by MSU last year as the nursing school's Alumni of the Year. She said nursing has always been part of her identity, inspired by watching her mother's career.
"I don't think that I would be here if I didn't have such a great role model, watching my mother be able to provide the care that she provided for her career," Block said.
With the shortage in mind, university leaders have set an ambitious goal tied to the new facility.
"By the time 2030 hits, the goal that was invested in by Mark and Robyn was to have enough nurses graduating to meet the demand of the workforce," Pankratz said.
Block said she is optimistic the new building will have a lasting impact on the nursing profession in the community.
"With the ribbon cutting, that actually helped promote nursing... even more so in our community," Block said.
