School of Nursing Awarded $87,000 Grant

Northwest Nazarene University received an $87,000 grant from the John H. & Orah I. Brandt Foundation for equipment in the new nursing lab named in their honor. Funds will provide additional equipment that will assist in providing “real-life patient care scenarios” for students in the School of Nursing. Further, the Brandt Foundation will help to equip NNU nursing graduates with a higher level of hands-on expertise before they encounter live-patient scenarios in the real world.

The Brandt Foundation is committed to actively supporting private and public education and other community endeavors. In the year 2009 alone, the Foundation granted a total of $598,000 in assistance to Boise State University, the Biblical Studies Center, Love Inc., Nampa Christian Schools, the Salvation Army, Valley Crisis Center, Boys and Girls Club, the Nampa Syringa House, the Cascade 4-H Camp and the Freedom Foundation, in addition to Northwest Nazarene University.

“NNU is extremely grateful to the Brandt Foundation for this generous grant. With the recent opening of the Thomas Family Health & Science Center and its expanded space dedicated to training nurses, this equipment will further enhance our ability to train the next generation of nurses,” said Joel Pearsall, vice president for university advancement.

The Brandt Nursing Lab is adjacent to an additional simulation lab that will house the SimMan, a human-like learning apparatus.  As a result of increased space in the newly completed Science Center, the nursing program will be able to offer an expanded use of simulation mannequins in nursing education.  The Brandt Foundation grant will fund additional components that complement the use of SimMan and the VitalSim learning apparatus. The simulated environment will facilitate increased learning and skill transfer when students serve patients in today’s complex care environment.

Pearsall continued, “In a real way, this gift benefits not only NNU and her students, but the entire Valley by assisting NNU in sending exceptional nurses out into local hospitals and other healthcare facilities.”