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WILMINGTON -- This semester, UNC Wilmington opened the doors to a brand new nursing building. The facility offers state-of-the-art equipment that will not only train students, but also help fill the need for nurses across the state.

UNC Wilmington senior Jillian Lamb said the technology provides her with the tools to make her dreams of becoming a nurse into a reality.

"This is exactly what you could see in real life," explained Lamb. "So it's like when you're going on to your clinical sites and you see a postpartum mother with an incision site, this is pretty much what it would look like and pretty much what you would do."

The facility is equipped with 10 classrooms, a large lecture hall and a simulation learning center, where students are able to get hands-on experience.

"You can take blood, you can give injections, feel pulses, you can do everything basically," explained Katherine Brawley, a UNC Wilmington student. "Some of them even turn blue."

As North Carolina becomes a popular retirement destination, the state Board of Nursing said there's a growing need for long-term care, emergency room and operating room nurses.
UNCW School of Nursing Director Dr. James McCann expects the facility to help train students to fill some of the nursing shortages across the state.

"UNCW is committed to increasing the number of health care professionals, not only in nursing, but in other disciplines."

McCann said the building enhances the school's ability to produce well-educated students.

"The need for nurses is only going to continue to grow as our population ages. There's really a demand, particularly in Wilmington, for clinical sites."

The nursing building cost just more than $30 million and was built with state funds approved by the General Assembly.