(New Brunswick) - Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital recently unveiled the Betty Wold Johnson Center for Nursing Education, made possible by a generous gift to the RWJ University Hospital Foundation. This gift will support both the Center and nursing education at RWJUH.
A portion of the gift supports the Training Center, which features four training/lecture rooms and two simulation labs that mimic a medical/surgical patient room and an operating room suite. Within those labs are several High Fidelity Simulation mannequins that simulate everything from childbirth to complicated lifesaving procedures. The mannequins can breathe, sweat, talk, blink and have light sensitive pupils.
“We are excited to have a dedicated training space that allows both educators and providers to focus on their learning without distractions,” said Michael Antoniades, President and Chief Executive Officer of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. “As a major academic medical center and the principal teaching hospital of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, our providers are constantly exposed to cutting-edge technology and new techniques. This training gives our nurses and other allied health care professionals an excellent training facility which will help them remain leaders in their profession.”
“Nurses are at the forefront of patient care,” Mrs. Johnson added. “As the daughter of a physician and a nurse, I understand the increasingly vital role our nurses play in health care. I am happy to be able to provide them with the support they need to advance in their profession.”
It is estimated that more than 3,000 health care professionals will be trained in the lab each year. This includes nursing professionals, respiratory techs and CCTs among other providers.
The remaining portion of the gift is an endowment dedicated to nursing education programs at RWJUH. The gift will provide in perpetuity scholarships, ongoing courses, seminars, sponsorships to conferences, and will include the Betty Wold Johnson Scholar in Residence Lecture Series featuring internationally known scholars and research professionals allowing them to remain current with the pace of innovation in health care.
“We are deeply grateful to Mrs. Johnson for her generous donation,” said Lori Colineri, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer for RWJBarnabas Health’s Southern Region. “As a major academic medical center and teaching hospital, our nurses care for patients with unique challenges and extremely complex diagnoses. This gift will help us consistently provide professional education, training and development programs which will give our nurses the opportunity to keep pace with the constant innovation and evolution of nursing practice. We thank Mrs. Johnson for being a champion for nurses and nursing education in our communities.”
RWJ’s New Brunswick and Somerset campuses were recently recognized for receiving Magnet designation which is nursing’s most prestigious award for nursing excellence. It was the fifth time that RWJ New Brunswick achieved this status and the second time for RWJ Somerset.
To learn more about RWJUH, please visit www.rwjbh.org/newbrunswick. For a referral to a physician affiliated with RWJUH, please call 1-888-637-9584. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/rwjuh and Facebook at www.facebook.com/RWJUH.
About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) is a 965-bed academic medical center with campuses in New Brunswick and Somerville, NJ. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, stroke care, neuroscience, joint replacement, and women’s and children’s care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.rwjbh.org/bmsch).
As the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the principal teaching hospital of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, RWJUH is an innovative leader in advancing state-of-the-art care. A Level 1 Trauma Center and the first Pediatric Trauma Center in the state, RWJUH’s New Brunswick campus serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.
RWJUH has been ranked among the best hospitals in America by U.S. News & World Report seven times and has been selected by the publication as a high performing hospital in numerous specialties. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital has been ranked among the best hospitals in America by U.S. News & World Report four times. In addition, RWJUH was named among the best places to work in health care by Modern Healthcare magazine and received the Equity Care of Award as Top Hospital for Healthcare Diversity and Inclusion from the American Hospital Association.
Both the New Brunswick and Somerset campuses have earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety, including the prestigious Magnet® Award for Nursing Excellence and “Most Wired” designation by Hospitals and Health Networks Magazine. The Joint Commission and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services have designated the New Brunswick Campus as a Comprehensive Stroke Center and the Somerset Campus as a Primary Stroke Center.
The American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer has rated RWJUH among the nation’s best comprehensive cancer centers and designated the Steeplechase Cancer Center at RWJ Somerset as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Center. The Joint Surgery Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset has earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for total knee and total hip replacement surgery.
RWJ’s New Brunswick and Somerset campuses are now part of RWJBarnabas Health. RWJBarnabas Health is the most comprehensive health care delivery system in New Jersey, treating over 3 million patients a year. The system includes eleven acute care hospitals – Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, Community Medical Center in Toms River, Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, RWJUH in New Brunswick and Somerville, RWJUH- Hamilton, RWJUH- Rahway and Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston; three acute care children’s hospitals and a leading pediatric rehabilitation hospital (Children’s Specialized Hospital), a freestanding 100-bed behavioral health center, ambulatory care centers, geriatric centers, the state’s largest behavioral health network, comprehensive home care and hospice programs, fitness and wellness centers, retail pharmacy services, a medical group, multi-site imaging centers and four accountable care organizations.
RWJBarnabas Health is New Jersey’s second largest private employer – with more than 32,000 employees, 9,000 physicians and 1,000 residents and interns – and routinely captures national awards for its outstanding quality and safety.
Contact: Peter Haigney
RWJUH Public Relations
(732) 937-8521