University of Central Arkansas Integrated Health Sciences Building

This four-story nursing school for the University of Central Arkansas was designed by Taggart Architects and Bernhard to deliver an interactive and real-life healthcare environment for the College of Nursing. The integrated design of the patient care areas is intended to replicate immersive scenarios in a professional healthcare environment and foster an inter-professional educational atmosphere that is most conducive to replicating real-life health care scenarios. Students will participate in clinical and simulation experiences that require collaboration with all majors within the college.

The design team included specific details such as a simulated medical gas infrastructure with gas headwalls at patient beds to simulate the loss of normal power from control rooms.

Bernhard’s creative team of engineers worked diligently during each stage of the design process to ensure what they created would place students in a true-to-form healthcare facility to prepare them for their future careers. Although the facilities are meant to mimic a healthcare facility, they are built with demonstration and classes in mind.

The first floor houses the Interprofessional Teaching Center where students learn and work alongside each other instead of independently, creating a modern health care team. The third floor of the building houses the Nabholz Center for Healthcare Simulation. The state-of-the-art simulation lab more than doubles the space of the current simulation lab and provide students with carefully programmed lifelike training scenarios. The remaining two floors contain classrooms and office space for faculty and staff.