Plans are being finalized for the new Nursing and Health Professions building with the goal to provide students with more opportunities to practice skills learned in the classroom.

The proposed building design includes three levels, space for larger classrooms, a health service clinic, a simulation center, learning spaces and more. 

Dina Byers, dean of Nursing and Health Professions, said the simulation center and clinical learning spaces are an expansion on what is currently being offered to students. 

“Our Health Assessment Lab and Essential Skills Lab is a shared space and it doesn’t give us a lot of opportunities for students to go in there and practice,” Byers said. “With the new building, the plan is to have an essential skills lab separate from the health assessment lab [and the] simulation center, so students will have more opportunities to go and practice and to learn from each other.”

The building will provide students with more space for student support on each floor where students can collaborate or study alone. Mason Hall currently provides students with spaces to study, prepare for exams and work on projects. 

Byers said it is her hope to bring in other areas in the School of Nursing and Health Professions like exercise science and public and community health eventually. 

The building design proposal includes space for three large classrooms. Byers said this presents a great opportunity for the program to grow and for students to gain clinical experience while waiting for a placement. 

“Our smaller classrooms hold 44 students and that’s been our max each semester and with a new space, we anticipate we will have [three] 260 person classrooms and a 50 person classroom, which allows us to grow,” Byers said. “I think we’ll be able to use simulation to help facilitate those clinical experiences. They could potentially practice those skills in a safe environment and then carry it out at the hospital setting and those hours would all be able to carry on as clinical learning.”

Jason Youngblood, director of facilities management, said that based on cost estimates, not everything would be able to go into this new building. 

“We are going about it as, what can we get into this building today with the budget we have and then design a phase two, if more funding becomes available,” Youngblood said. 

In her Board report, Byers said there are plans to move the exercise science program into the new building. There is also the possibility for additional health programs to move into Mason Hall. 

Bob Jackson, Murray State University President, said he is pleased with the preliminary work and design on the new Nursing and Health Professions building. 

“Our nursing and healthcare programs are growing and addressing the needs of our region and state in this important area,” Jackson said. “This new facility will be state-of-the-art and assist our students with their academic preparation in these essential fields.”

Construction is set to begin in March 2024, with an estimated completion by January 2026.