BEACON Nursing Simulation Center Impact

BEACON Nursing Simulation Center

Equip Yourself for Nursing with the Rusty and Kimberly Hutson Family BEACON Simulation Center

The Rusty and Kimberly Hutson Family BEACON Simulation Center at Fairmont State University provides nursing students with simulated patient care learning through a wide variety of scenarios that bridge classroom education and real-world patient care.

BEACON stands for Bridging Education to Advance Clinical Outcomes in Nursing, reflecting the Center’s role in helping students apply their knowledge, strengthen clinical judgment, while preparing to deliver safe, effective patient care.

The Center, located on the bottom floor of the Education Building, features state-of-the-art simulation technology and immersive learning environments that allow students to develop clinical skills, strengthen clinical judgment and critical decision-making abilities, and gain valuable hands-on experience before entering real-world healthcare settings. Through realistic patient-care scenarios, students have opportunities to think, communicate, make decisions, and respond like nurses while building confidence needed to enter the workforce career-ready.  

Nursing Simulation and Clinical Learning Areas

The BEACON Simulation Center has four instructional areas designed to expose students to a variety of healthcare environments and support learning across continuum of care.

The front desk of the clinic in the Sim Center

Acute Care

Realistic acute care environments allow students to practice responding to changing and complex patient needs and scenarios, including Trauma, Labor, Delivery, and Recovery, Pediatric, and Adult patient care. 

A pediatric patient clinic room

Clinic Care

Four treatment rooms, a triage area, and a pediatric room that can accommodate standardized patients and patient simulators. Students can practice assessment, communication, clinical decision-making, and patient care in a realistic clinical setting.  

A bathroom in the Independent Living Suite in the Sim Center

Independent Living Suite

Long-term and community-based care; styled as a one-bedroom apartment to replicate home care and long-term care environments. Students learn to consider the patient’s environment, resources, independence, and support systems as part of the care experience.

A large classroom in the Sim Center

Pre-Briefing/Debriefing Rooms

Simulation learning continues before and after each patient-care scenario. Pre-briefing prepares students before the experience, and debriefing allows nursing students to learn from each other and their own performances through live video feeds and recordings.  

A nursing student working in the Sim Center

Preparing Nurses for West Virginia

West Virginia continues to face a significant need for nurses, particularly in rural and underserved communities where access to healthcare can be limited. Fairmont State is helping respond to that need by preparing nurses who are ready to provide care in hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, homes, and communities throughout the state 

The Independent Living Suite simulates a home environment, providing students with hands-on learning experiences in home, community, and population care. Students gain experience providing care outside of a traditional hospital environment and learn how a patient’s home, resources, family, and community can influence health outcomes.

West Virginia is projected to continue experiencing substantial demand for registered nurses through 2030. By educating students from communities across the state, Fairmont State has an opportunity to prepare nurses who can graduate career-ready and bring their skills back to the communities they call home. 

Why Simulation Matters

A mannequin on a hospitacl bed in the sim center

At Fairmont State, students are the focus of everything we do. The BEACON Simulation Center is designed to provide realistic clinical learning experiences that complement traditional clinical education and give students more opportunities to actively participate in patient care

Traditional clinical rotations are essential to nursing education, but the experiences available to students can vary depending on patient needs, clinical placements, timing, and the types of cases encountered during a rotation. Simulation allows faculty to intentionally create scenarios around specific skills, patient conditions, and learning outcomes. 

Students can assess a situation, make clinical decisions, communicate with a healthcare team, respond to changes in a patient’s condition, and then reflect on their performance with faculty and classmates. This process helps students connect classroom learning with real-world nursing practice and develop the clinical judgment needed to think like a nurse.

Students can complete up to 50% of their clinical requirements through experiences in the BEACON Simulation Center. Clinical requirements vary by program, course, and applicable requirements. Not every student will complete 50% of their clinical requirements through simulation.

A prescription medicine dispenser in the sim center

Built for the Future of Nursing Education

A mock hospital room in the sim center

The BEACON Simulation Center represents an investment not only in technology and facilities, but also in Fairmont State’s students and the future of West Virginia’s healthcare workforce. By providing immersive, high-quality simulation experiences, the Center helps prepare confident, capable, and career-ready nurses to serve patients and communities throughout the state and beyond. 

The BEACON Simulation Center was designed by Omni Associates-Architects and HKS, Inc. Omni Associates projects include The Bridgeport Indoor Sports & Recreation Complex (aka The Bridge) and the Mon Health – Heart & Vascular Center in Elkins in its portfolio. HKS, Inc.’s portfolio includes the University of Miami Medical Education and Research Building and the University of Texas Health Science Center – San Antonio State Hospital.  

Frequently Asked Questions

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