California Northstate University opens new nursing school near Sacramento
RANCHO CORDOVA — Nursing and med students are using new high-tech clinical classrooms at California Northstate University (CNU) in Rancho Cordova to get hands-on experience.
The students are working with a variety of realistic mannequins "designed to mimic human physiology and respond to medical interventions," said Heather Brown, the dean of CNU.
The mannequins include, but are not limited to, a five-year-old boy who can talk and cry with tears and an expectant mother about to give birth — with a functional baby mannequin in her womb.
The new technology has changed the way nurses are now taught.
"They used to practice on each other," Brown said. "They would start IVs on each other."
CNU has been in the Sacramento region since 2008 — offering pre-med, dental, and pharmacy majors. Now, they're launching a new school of nursing at a time when the demand for health care workers is growing.
"California is in the top three of the most severe need for nurses," Brown said.
California is projected to need 40,000 new nurses in the next five years.
"All I hear whenever I tell someone I want to be a nurse is 'oh good, we need nurses,' " said Kaci Zanardelli, a CNU nursing student.
The three-year bachelor of science program accepts students right out of high school.
"It is an intensive program year-round — summer, fall, spring terms," Brown said.
CNU is also the university trying to open a new hospital in Natomas on the vacant site of the old Sacramento Kings basketball arena.
"We are moving very close to the point of groundbreaking," said Alvin Cheung, president of CNU.
The hospital is expected to take about four years to build, and training programs like these are designed to provide a pipeline for the new doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals that will be needed here and across the state.
"We are very passionate about making sure that we're supporting the workforce need with respect to health care," Brown said.
The university is admitting 90 new nursing students a year and applications for the summer and fall classes are now being accepted.