University of New Brunswick – Nursing alumna creates new suites for virtual reality education at UNB

Thanks to the generosity of nursing alumna Margie Mallory (BN’68) and her partner, Duncan MacDonald (BBA’68), nursing students at the University of New Brunswick now have access to two state-of-the art suites for virtual reality pediatric nursing education.

The Margaret Mallory Pediatric Simulation Suites were officially opened at a ceremony on Oct. 19. The Fredericton suite is located at Room 119 of MacLaggan Hall, and the Moncton suite is located at Room 216 of 55 Lutz Street.

Duncan MacDonald, Dr. Kathy Wilson, Margie Mallory, Dr. Petra Hauf

Dr. Lorna Butler, dean of nursing and health sciences, says the simulation suites are part of UNB’s effort to redefine how nurses are educated in response to a world-wide critical shortage of nurses. It’s all part of UNB’s innovative, technologically assisted nursing education delivery model, Learn Where You Live.

“We have expanded the use of advanced simulation and extended reality education (SIM/XRed), interdisciplinary training and global partnerships to ensure nursing students are educated at the highest standard of skill development and ready to practice in the clinical setting,” Butler said. “At the same time, we are deploying the latest technological advances to bring nursing education to other nations and the most remote parts of Canada.”

“Because of the technological advances we have been able to adopt, thanks to the generosity and foresight of alumni donors like Margie and Duncan, UNB boasts the only nursing program in Canada to earn accreditation through the International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning Healthcare Simulation Standards Endorsement,” Butler said.

The Margaret Mallory Pediatric Simulation Suites give UNB nursing instructors the opportunity to teach essential skills at a distance and proficiency level that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. The focus on pediatric care enables students to learn how to deal with medical crises in newborns and babies with simulation technology, so they are better prepared to face such emergencies in the workplace.

Dr. Kathy Wilson, UNB’s acting president and vice chancellor and a member of the faculty of nursing herself, praised the investment.

“UNB is operating at the leading edge of nursing education because of engaged nursing alumni like Margie Mallory. When Margie saw this technology in action, she immediately realized how it could be used to teach critically important skills,” Wilson said.

“From mature and upgrading students, who cannot afford to uproot their lives and drop their careers to become full-time residential students, to nursing learners in the northern territories, to students in other nations, these simulation learning suites will give UNB the capacity to teach effective nursing concepts and skills to more students than ever before,” Wilson said.