Cabe Foundation Gift Supports Nursing Program

The Horace C. Cabe Foundation, founded in 1993 by the estate of the World War II Navy ace-turned-lumber executive, has donated $52,500 to UALR’s Department of Nursing to add a computerized “patient” to the University’s simulated hospital clinic. The gift, the first UALR has received from the Cabe Foundation, will be used to purchase an adult patient simulator for UALR’s simulated clinic that already includes a computerized mother and baby. “This generous gift will help UALR find high-tech solutions for increasing the number of well-qualified nurses for Arkansas,” said Dr. Michael Gealt, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. “We hope to buy another birthing mother and child and other automatons to complete the simulated hospital unit, which is helping us get rid of the bottleneck in nursing education,” Gealt said. “The most students we can place in a clinical setting are 10, creating a bottleneck for training. By having our own simulation lab, we can train more nurses.” The simulators can be programmed to mimic a myriad of medical conditions and responses that students treat in real time. Because of UALR’s partnerships with central Arkansas hospitals, the gift can help recertify practicing nurses as well as train new ones and help UALR meet its goal to double the number of registered nurse graduates within five years. Dr. Ann Schlumberger, chair of the UALR Nursing Department, said Arkansas faces an acute shortage of nurses as the Baby Boom generation reaches retirement age – a national problem. “We must find innovative ways in our nursing program to recruit and support promising student nurses to provide patient care in the state’s hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices, hospices, and other medical settings,” she said. The Cabe Foundation grants money primarily in Texas and Arkansas, including gifts to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Camp Aldersgate, Arkansas Rice Depot, Nature Conservancy, Salvation Army and Arkansas Hospice.