Blog contribution by NIHD Member Gina Marquardt MN, RN.
For the second consecutive year, Montana State University's Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing graduate students showcased exceptional talent at the 72-hour AIA/AAH PDC Student Challenge. This highlight event was held during the annual International Summit & Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design & Construction PDC Summit in San Diego, CA from March 17-20. The challenge gives those passionate about healthcare design the opportunity to improve the healthcare built environment and highlights the importance of interprofessional work and innovation in healthcare.
Graduate nursing students attending the MRJCON are nominated and selected by faculty based on their academic accomplishments, leadership qualities, and other standout characteristics. Students eligible for nomination include those seeking a graduate degree in nursing as a Masters of Nursing with an emphasis in Clinical Nurse Leadership or a Doctor of Nursing Practice with tracks in Family Nurse Practitioner or Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
This year MN students Sarah Leland, Hannah Thorson, Delaney McIntosh and Kelsey Dalby were selected to attend the challenge. They were accompanied and mentored by Dr. Liz Johnson, and myself, Gina Marquardt (pictured below).
Prior to the challenge, students prepared through monthly meetings that highlight and review concepts of design of healthcare systems, theoretical frameworks of nursing, financial considerations, and design theory. Once in San Diego, the students were joined by graduate students and faculty in engineering, architecture, and construction management from across the country. Teams were chosen at random to include five members: a nurse, construction manager, engineer, and two architects. Tasked with designing a thoughtful UC San Diego Express Care center in downtown San Diego; the challenge began with a presentation to the teams on area demographics, hospital organization mission and values, a partially shelled space with an additional area of square footage to utilize. This unique space offered the students an opportunity to build their center fully immersed in a downtown location, surrounded by a colorful and diverse community, to meet the needs of a growing population.
Once the clock started, teams had a mere 72-hours to design the space, engineer mechanical specifics, create renderings, construct budgets, ensure staffing plans and build a plan that runs the healthcare organization and establishes a patient care model. Nursing students are an integral part of the team through clinical insight, lived experience, and leadership knowledge.
