FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2023
VOLUME 108 | ISSUE 2
SUNY Plattsburgh’s independent student newspaper since 1997
ALEKSANDRA SIDOROVA/Cardinal Points
President Alexander Enyedi cuts the red ribbon in front of the newly renovated Damianos Nursing Skills Lab. Provost Anne Herzog and student Trishelle Lewis hold the ribbon.
College celebrates nursing lab renovation BY ALEKSANDRA SIDOROVA
News & Managing Editor
SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi cut a red ribbon held up by Provost Anne Herzog and nursing student Trishelle Lewis Monday, Feb. 20. This gesture signified the end of the year-long renovation of the Damianos nursing simulation lab in Hawkins Hall. Officially called the Dr. Xenophon and Virginia Sturrock Damianos Nursing Skills Laboratory, the lab honors ‘51 and ‘50 alumni respectively. The renovation spanned the course of an entire aca-
demic year and two summers, beginning in the summer of 2021 and ending in the summer of 2022. The lab is “almost exact” to the original construction plans, Assistant Professor of Nursing Heather Moussa said. For the entire calendar year that the lab was under construction, students used a “makeshift” lab in the Hawkins Hall basement, Associate Professor of Nursing Dr. Shannon Hanshaw said. Students have been using the renovated lab in Hawkins 255 throughout the fall 2022 semester, but the department decided to postpone the official launch due to pandemic-
related supply chain issues and needing to sort out some construction “kinks,” such as straightening the floor. The Damianos nursing simulation lab was designed to imitate a real hospital, Simulation and Laboratory Coordinator Michaela Davison said. It has four rooms, each with a different type of patient: a laboring mother with a baby; two children, ages 1 and 5; a critical care patient and a “typical patient,” as Moussa said. The patients are highfidelity manikins. The term “fidelity” refers to the manikins’ ability to mimic human bodies. They have
pulses students can hear and feel, heartbeats and pupils that can constrict and dilate. They can also blink and follow nurses with their eyes. “Pretty much, most of the functions of your human body they are capable of doing,” Davison said. Before it was renovated, the lab was one big room with nothing to separate the patients from each other, except curtains in the laboring patient’s corner. Each room is equipped with basic caregiving and charting tools, including a headwall with a fake oxygen mask and working suction, as well as a laptop. The lab also has a
Staff Writer
Students presented a variety of research projects as part of the third annual Education, Health and Human Services Student Research Conference in the Angell College Center on Friday, Feb. 17. The conference began with a welcome by comoderators and mentors of the students professors Michelle Bonati, Emily Hoeh, Alison Puliatte, James Rigney and Maureen Squires, followed by a keynote speech by Associate Professor of Political Science Raymond Carman, who shared his own personal story about his research experience. As the keynote came to an end, the conference was split into two different rooms. One focused on presentations on the
topics of excellence in teaching, service and coaching. The other was focused on professionalism in human service industries, inclusion and cultural responsiveness. The first topic was presented by Shannon Breen, who spoke about using Modified Schema-Based Instruction (MSBI) as a mathematical intervention for students with disabilities. This intervention would help teach new concepts to students with disabilities by helping them “conceptualize math.” Its focus on solving real world problems through the use of visuals and diagrams to help students with disabilities will help prepare them for future success.
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Nursing students enter medical simulations after a briefing on basic information about the patient and their condition. Once they’re in the patient’s room, they are on their own — their instructor manages the simulation from a separate control room, observing the students live on a computer monitor. The instructor can control the patient’s vitals and can respond either with preprogrammed responses, such as ‘Ouch!’ or speak through a microphone on the patient’s behalf.
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Pantry asks for donations
Department hosts research conference BY JACOB KENT
storage room, which students can get supplies and medication from, like they would in a real hospital. The difference, however, is that the high-fidelity simulation lab allows students to make “safe errors,” Davison said. She said nursing students without registered nurse licenses have restrictions as to what they may assist with, placed upon them by the state, university and medical facility they are working in. “As much as we want to believe these are real people, they’re not,” Davison said. “So you are able to make mistakes and learn from them.”
BY HAYDEN SADLER Staff Writer
The Cardinal Cupboard at Angell College Center is in need of items this semester. Personal care products are in especially short supply. Michele Carpentier is the assistant vice principal for student affairs and director of special programs at SUNY Plattsburgh. The Cardinal Cupboard is a food and supply pantry in ACC 110 that offers students a means of acquiring supplies they need. These items range from personal care products, such as shampoo, body wash and deodorant, to food items, such as canned vegetables, soups and ramen. Those interested in donating toiletries, food or clothing can do so between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday. “We’re willing to take ALEKSANDRA SIDOROVA/Cardinal Points anything that anyone wants Although the Cardinal Cupboard is now order-only, some to give us,” Carpentier said. products can be accessed any time the H.U.B. is open. Donations often come in
the form of food items. Recently, demand has shifted to hygiene products. “We have a lot of calls for shampoos, toothpastes and deodorant,” Carpentier said. “People don’t think to donate them.” The Cardinal Cupboard gives assistance to students in need, whether they live on- or off-campus. Orders can be sent to the office by filling out a form on the SUNY Plattsburgh website. Off-campus students in particular could have a need for the pantry, even more so in the event that financial reasons led them to move off-campus. Eirik Lavigne is a junior math major at SUNY Plattsburgh. While he hasn’t had to utilize the Cardinal Cupboard, he affirms the value of such a program being offered by the school. “It’s a great way to help off-campus students in financially tough situations,” Lavigne said.
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