UDC nursing students now have a new place to prepare for one of the region’s most essential professions.
On Aug. 19, UDC held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new nursing simulation center at UDC Community College. The center’s highly anticipated opening marks an expanded opportunity for students to develop the clinical skills, confidence and judgment they will need to care for patients throughout Washington, DC and the region.
The center, dedicated in honor of longtime UDC Associate Professor and Interim Director of Nursing Education Susie Cato, provides nursing students with a hands-on learning environment where they can practice patient care and respond to realistic clinical scenarios before applying those skills in health care settings. As students move between classroom instruction, simulation and clinical experiences, they develop the technical knowledge and human skills required to care for people during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
President Maurice D. Edington and UDC Community College Dean Marilyn Hamilton delivered welcoming remarks alongside Vonda Rogers, assistant professor of nursing and chair of the simulation center planning committee. All three highlighted how this investment connects directly to the university’s mission of preparing students for careers that meet the needs of the communities it serves by developing a pipeline of skilled health care professionals prepared to serve District residents.
As Edington said, “When UDC prepares a nurse, the impact does not end with that graduate. It reaches the patients they will care for, the families they will support, the health care organizations they will strengthen and the communities they will serve. That is what it means for UDC to be a workforce and economic engine for the District. And as we celebrate 175 years of this institution, this new center is also a reminder that honoring our history means continuing to invest in what comes next.”
The new center allows students to practice not only clinical procedures but also communication, teamwork, critical thinking and decision-making. Students can encounter challenging scenarios, determine how to respond and learn from faculty feedback without placing an actual patient at risk. For students preparing to enter clinical environments, that opportunity can help bridge the gap between knowing what to do and having the confidence to do it. Hamilton and Rogers both stressed the care that went into designing the facility over many months to ensure a full range of experiences students may face is replicated in an honest way. “Everything in there is intentional,” Hamilton said.
For students, the center can also ease the transition from classroom instruction to clinical care by providing an intermediate setting where they can practice their skills before working with patients in a hospital or other health care environment.
Dedicating the center to Cato also connects the future of nursing education at UDC to the legacy of a beloved educator who began her teaching career in September 1972 with what she originally intended to be a one-year trial.
Cato’s family surprised her by attending the celebration, and she shared personal stories from her own experiences with UDC-trained nurses, including the team who helped her late husband following a life-altering surgery. Cato also spoke of her joy seeing the new center become another strong layer of the UDC nursing program, reassuring her that when she does eventually retire, “I’m leaving it in good hands.”
That legacy gives the center an even deeper purpose beyond its equipment and technology. Each new group of nursing students who trains there will know they are continuing the tradition of education, mentorship and service Cato helped establish.
As UDC nursing graduates enter the workforce, the impact of the new simulation center will extend from the Community College campus into health care settings across the District and surrounding region—turning hands-on education today into better-prepared nurses for the communities the university serves tomorrow.
Learn more about UDC’s nursing programs, admissions requirements and pathways to a nursing career.