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July 12, 2006
WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES LANDMARK GIFT FROM BOLGER FOUNDATION FOR CREATION OF NURSING PATIENT SIMULATION LABORATORY
—$500,000 gift supports construction of high-tech nursing lab
Wayne, New Jersey, July 12, 2006 – David F. Bolger, through The Bolger Foundation of Ridgewood, N.J., has donated $500,000 to William Paterson University to support the creation of a patient simulation laboratory suite that will enhance the ability of nursing students to learn in a technologically advanced facility that reflects actual hospital and clinical environments. The laboratory will be named, The Nel Bolger R.N. Nursing Laboratory.
Patient simulation laboratories are quickly becoming a standard in nursing education. William Paterson’s facility will be unique in that it will include specialized communications infrastructure that monitors and records simulated clinical procedures for later analysis by students and faculty.
“Mr. Bolger’s gift demonstrates his appreciation for the essential role of nurses in our health care system and we are honored to partner with him in support of nursing excellence,” said University President Arnold Speert. “This landmark gift will enable us to build the infrastructure for a state-of-the-art laboratory that will help prepare future and advanced practice nurses for success in an increasingly complex health care environment.”
“This gift is in memory of my aunt, Tante Nel Bolger, a Dutch nurse and graduate of Johns Hopkins Nursing School who was a leader in the underground movement in Holland during the Nazi occupation,” said Mr. Bolger. “I am pleased to support William Paterson University’s excellent nursing program, which leads to opportunities for employment in a satisfying, lifelong career in a field that is vitally important. This gift will create a superior clinical nursing education laboratory where nursing students can learn the essential care and diagnostic techniques they need to succeed in New Jersey’s hospitals and other healthcare facilities. I am proud to partner with a University that so greatly values cultural diversity.”
William Paterson University has long been dedicated to leadership in nursing education. Its Department of Nursing, which is nationally accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, offers both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. One of the largest nursing programs in New Jersey, the program enrolled 430 undergraduate and 44 graduate students as of fall 2005.
“In the fast-paced atmosphere of hospitals and extended healthcare facilities, it is essential for today’s nursing students to mirror clinical settings as closely as possible,” said Sandra DeYoung, dean of the University’s College of Science and Health. “This also requires that we increase the amount of practice our nursing students at both the undergraduate and graduate level can participate in before caring for actual patients in a clinical setting. This simulation laboratory will allow our students to enhance their proficiency with decision-making and procedures in a sophisticated, simulated clinical facility.”
The laboratory suite, to be located in the University’s Department of Nursing in Hunziker Wing on campus, will contain two simulation labs, one geared toward training undergraduate students in intensive care unit scenarios, the other toward teaching physical assessment skills to graduate-level nurses in a simulated doctor’s office/clinic. The labs will feature computerized patient simulation mannequins, a control station for operating the mannequins, robotic digital cameras to record students practicing patient care techniques, television screens to display the lab sessions, one-way mirrors to allow viewing by professors, and editing facilities for creating electronic DVDs for evaluations of student progress. Students can also make the DVDs available to demonstrate their experience to prospective employers.
The new laboratory suite will support the nursing program’s increased enrollment, which is 40 percent greater than in 2001. Programs include a bachelor of science degree in nursing, an accelerated track for students with a bachelor’s degree in another discipline, a track for registered nurses seeking a bachelor’s degree, a master of science in nursing that prepares students to function as advanced clinical practice nurses, a certificate program in adult nurse practitioner for those who already possess a master’s degree, and a school nurse program. The lab will provide nursing students with a state-of-the-art facility that far surpasses the program’s traditional campus laboratory where nursing students learn hands-on skills by practicing on each other. It will enable them to practice critical procedures and become proficient in a safe, clinical environment so that they are prepared to respond immediately once they are in the field caring for actual patients, who today are sicker and often suffer from chronic conditions.
Construction on the new lab is scheduled to begin in January 2007.
“We are deeply grateful for David Bolger’s major commitment to our nursing program for this essential project that enhances the clinical education of future and advanced practice nurses,” said Sandra S. Deller, William Paterson’s vice president for institutional advancement. “It demonstrates his dedication to providing New Jersey communities with nursing professionals of the very highest quality. This gift is consistent with Mr. Bolger's philanthropy: he sees a need and he responds generously.”
Mr. Bolger is Owner and President of Bolger & Co., Inc., a real estate/investment firm located in Ridgewood, N.J., with real estate holdings throughout the United States. He served as Chairman of the holding company of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank, which was recently acquired by Cascade Bancorp, where he now serves as Director Emeritus.
Mr. Bolger recently donated a three-to-one $25,000 challenge grant to William Paterson to kick off the Hobart Manor Revitalization Campaign, which seeks to refurbish Hobart Manor. The oldest building on campus, Hobart Manor is listed on the National Register for Historic Places, and was last refurbished in 1985.
Through The Bolger Foundation, Mr. Bolger’s philanthropy has focused often, though not exclusively, on the needs of children, senior citizens, and quality of life issues. He recently made significant donations to Northfield Mount Herman School in Northfield, Mass., of which he is a graduate, and to West Bergen Mental Healthcare in Ridgewood, N.J. The Bolger Foundation has awarded grants to many organizations in New Jersey, including The Valley Hospital, the Ridgewood, Glen Rock, and Midland Park libraries, The Children’s Therapy Center in Fair Lawn, Christian Health Care Center, Ramapo Ridge Psychiatric Center, Sarasota Memorial Hospital, and other local and national organizations.
William Paterson University, one of the nine state colleges and universities in New Jersey, offers 32 undergraduate and 19 graduate programs through five colleges: Arts and Communication, the Christos M. Cotsakos College of Business, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Health. Located on 370 hilltop acres in Wayne, the University enrolls nearly 11,000 students and provides housing for nearly 2,300 students. The institution’s 372 full-time faculty are highly distinguished and diverse scholars and teachers, many of whom are recipients of prestigious awards and grants from the Fulbright Program, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation.
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