Two faculty members from Belmont University School of Nursing recently assisted Hillwood High School’s Academy of Health Sciences in securing a $100,000 grant from the HCA Foundation made on behalf of the HCA/TriStar Family of Hospitals. The School of Nursing is a PENCIL partner with the Academy. Belmont faculty and students volunteer time to provide guidance to the school’s administration and career advice to its students. The PENCIL Foundation helps link community resources with Metro Nashville Public Schools.
Dr. Sandy Murabito, Assistant Professor of Nursing, and Sandra Rosedale, Clinical Placement Coordinator for the School of Nursing, provided significant assistance in writing the grant application. Murabito is the school’s PTO president and Rosedale serves on the Academy’s advisory board.
The grant will be used to fund the design and construction of two state-of-the-art patient simulation laboratories at the Academy, giving students the opportunity to simulate and practice a variety of real-world medical procedures and activities such as drawing blood, starting an IV, processing patients, and labor and delivery support. Skill-based learning activities help to prepare students for future careers in medical and surgical nursing, emergency medicine, physical therapy, rehabilitation and sports medicine and many more health related professions.
Dr. Beth Hallmark, Director of Patient Simulation for Belmont’s Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing, joins Rosedale on the advisory panel which will guide the project through fruition. Once completed, the laboratories will serve health science students from all Metro Nashville public schools.
As the philanthropic arm of HCA, the mission of The HCA Foundation is to promote health and well-being, support childhood and youth development and foster the arts in Middle Tennessee. HCA has been an Academy Business Partner since 2009 providing student field trips, job shadowing, internships and teacher externships in support of the mission of the Hillwood Health Science Academy.