Investing in Our Future

Through the generous grant funding support from the James Kerney Foundation and an anonymous donor. The W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing at Thomas Edison State University has created an innovative home care nursing education room/laboratory that will be used to provide critical and exceptional education experiences to students enrolled in the School’s Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN Program.

The home care education room/laboratory is now furnished and ready to use for student education. The courses and simulations where home care education will be provided include the following:

Safety in Healthcare: Recognizing Errors in the Home Care Setting
Med Surg Diabetes: Hypoglycemia Simulation
Med Surg Diabetes: Hyperglycemia Simulation
Mental Health: Serotonin Syndrome Simulation
Oncology: Chemotherapy Simulation
Community Home Care: Medication Reconciliation Simulation

The home care education room/laboratory will have a tremendous impact on the nursing students’ education because they do not have sufficient opportunities in the community to practice and perform skills and procedures in a home setting. Having the home care room/laboratory will most definitely enable the students to gain expertise and critical thinking abilities as it relates the growing need and demand for home care nursing. In addition, it will enable students to meet the objectives and outcomes of the above-referenced courses. All students will be able to:

Apply professional values, standards, and legal codes to the care of individuals, families, and selected populations;
Utilize information and communication technologies to promote health and manage illness in the home setting;
Use the nursing process to promote, maintain, and/or restore health to individuals, families, and selected populations;
Apply principles of natural history of disease to plan care for specified individuals and selected populations;
Provide safe, quality, and culturally appropriate care to individuals, families, and selected populations;
Utilize evidence-based practices in the provision of safe and high-quality nursing care in the home environment.

The Thomas Edison State University Foundation would like to express its thanks to the James Kerney Foundation and the generosity of its anonymous donor for their extraordinary support for this critical project.

The University launched an accelerated, online Master of Business Administration (MBA) program in October 2012 with an inaugural cohort of 10 students. The career-focused program can be completed in 18 months and offers four areas of study, including Data Analytics, Finance, Healthcare Management and Marketing.

“We’ve created a program that enables our students to apply what they learn directly to their careers and professions,” said Dr. Michael Williams, acting dean of the School of Business and Technology. “Our program is designed exclusively for working adults and the applied approach distinguishes our MBA from others in the marketplace, which are mostly theory-based.”

In 2011, the Foundation provided $100,000 to fund development of the MBA. Courses in the 39-credit program are eight-weeks long and students can enroll at three times during the year. Currently, 8 students are enrolled in the MBA program and 91 candidates have applied to the program, including eight who are enrolled in undergraduate courses required to satisfy the program’s prerequisites in financial accounting, economics and statistics.

Additionally, the School of Business and Technology has developed and launched the MBA Preparatory Program, which is designed for candidates with a nonbusiness background. This noncredit, online program enables students to complete up to three accelerated noncredit courses in 12 weeks to satisfy the program’s prerequisites. The preparatory program was deployed in April and included 12 students in its first cohort.

Students in the W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing’s Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) Program were closer to their academic goals thanks to the creation of a new simulation lab, which features three high-fidelity patient simulators, made possible by generous donations from corporate and individual supporters.

The nursing simulation lab is controlled clinical environment. The three high-fidelity human simulators in the lab can be programmed to replicate many healthcare emergencies and medical conditions; and respond physiologically and verbally to care administered by the students.

The Thomas Edison State University Foundation played a key role in supporting the simulation laboratory by raising more than $270,000 to help purchase the simulators. Supporters include Bristol-Myers Squibb; The Gary & Diane Heavin Community Fund; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; The Karma Foundation; The James Kerney Foundation; New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.; The Provident Bank Foundation; The Roma Bank Community Foundation; The Fred C. Rummel Foundation; and numerous individuals.

In 2013, Thomas Edison State University was notified that its applications for capital projects in downtown Trenton were recommended for public funding. The University submitted four applications totaling $16.6 million in public funding requests, including:

Nursing Education Center ($12.726 million): This project will transform the blighted Glen Cairn Arms site at Calhoun and West State streets in Trenton into a state-of-the-art nursing education center and home to the W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing. The 34,700 square foot building will include a new nursing simulation laboratory, lecture halls, conference rooms and space for a testing center. This was the only project the University applied for that is covered by the Building Our Future Bond Act.
Kelsey Building and Townhouse Upgrades ($1.913 million): This project will upgrade and renovate the landmark Kelsey Building and Townhouse complex, including the reconfiguration of existing offices to maximize space and create new resources and replacing the roof and mechanical systems.
102-104 West State Street Improvements ($1.4 million): This project will create the Center for Learning and Technology at Thomas Edison State University in the 12,500 square foot building located across the street from the Kelsey Building. The site was formerly home of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.
Instructional Nursing Equipment ($585,000): This project will fund the purchase of instructional equipment for the W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing to support educational technology in the nursing simulation lab and other technical aspects of the program

Investing in Our Future

Home Care Nursing Education Room at the W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing

Martinson Family Foundation Grant

Nursing Sim Lab

Capital Projects