After passing the New York State Legislature, Governor Hochul signed a bill (A3076/S447) that allows nursing students to complete up to 30 percent of their training through simulation experience. This move will help recruit and train more healthcare workers and is one of the most recent initiatives to address the healthcare worker shortage across the state.

“Healthcare facilities across the North Country are struggling to find nurses and it is straining our resources,” said Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake). “I am proud to cosponsor this bill because it makes training more accessible and will help more students across the North Country get the training they need. Many colleges, including SUNY Plattsburgh, already have the technology to teach students through simulation and it makes sense to take advantage of these labs to allow future nurses to complete their training. We need more nurses in the North Country and I will continue to support initiatives that help recruit and train healthcare workers.”

"We are grateful to the leadership of our local legislators, who supported this important change," said SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi. "Assemblyman Jones was an early co-sponsor and among the strong voices for advancing the use of nursing simulators. This change reflects the needs of the profession and can help grow the number of nurses in the state health care system and those educated on our campus."

SUNY Plattsburgh recently re-opened the Damianos Nursing Simulation Lab in February after a year-long renovation. This lab imitates a real hospital and provides students hands-on experience where they treat “patients” that are high-fidelity manakins with the ability to mimic human bodies. This simulation allows students to make “safe errors” that they would not be able to do in clinical settings which enable them to learn from their mistakes. Thanks to this legislation, students will now be able to use the Damianos Nursing Simulation Lab to complete a portion of their training.