Over the last two decades, Penn State Mont Alto has graduated more than 1,000 high-quality nurses who are working and teaching in all aspects of healthcare. Many remain in our region, working in acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities including Chambersburg and Waynesboro Hospitals and other local and regional facilities such as Carlisle and Hanover Hospitals, Hershey Medical, Johns Hopkins, Meritus Healthcare, Menno Haven, Quincy Village, and south Mountain Restoration Center.
As part of Penn State’s College of Nursing – which has offered nursing education for 52 years – Penn State Mont Alto’s program is well established and highly respected. In addition, Mont Alto’s faculty members are nationally recognized nurse educators, clinicians, and researchers. As a result, our nursing students are receiving a top-notch education and benefitting from long-standing partnerships with regional healthcare providers for clinical experiences as well as cutting-edge simulation experiences.
“Penn State is advancing the nursing program to educate and prepare students for rare and high-risk emergencies,” said Carranda Barkdoll, Penn State Mont Alto nursing program director.
In August 2017, Penn State Mont Alto dedicated the Summit Health Nursing Lab and celebrated the arrival of Lucina ― a wireless maternal simulator that allows nursing students to practice a wide range of birthing scenarios from a normal delivery to obstetrical emergencies such as a breech delivery and a major post-partum hemorrhage. Summit Health helped purchase Lucina.
“We are excited to be making this investment for the education of Penn State Mont Alto nursing students. Summit Health is dedicated to investing in the future of local nursing and the future of our community,” said Sherri Stahl, Summit Health senior vice president of hospital services.
Named for the Greek Goddess of childbirth, Lucina is the only wireless high-fidelity child birthing simulator that can provide vitals for both the birthing mother and child giving instructors the ability to train nursing students on all stages of delivery as well as for the rare emergency.
“To be able to actually participate in what is as close to a live birth as possible is so valuable,” said nursing student William Myers.
