NMSU’s School of Nursing unveiled a new 1,200-square-foot simulated operating room to help train future nurse anesthetists under real-world conditions.

Carlos Carrillo López, New Mexico State University

LAS CRUCES - New Mexico State University’s School of Nursing has opened the doors to a new, state-of-the-art simulated operating room designed to prepare students for careers as certified-registered nurse anesthetists.

NMSU’s School of Nursing and College of Health, Education and Social Transformation unveiled the completed 1,2000-square-foot operating room last month. The operating room is the newest edition to the School of Nursing’s Skills and Simulation Center, which also recently underwent its first major renovation and expansion in two decades.

The construction of the operating room and renovations to the existing Skills and Simulation Center, both housed in NMSU’s Health and Social Services building, cost about $2.6 million. Both projects were primarily funded through general obligation bonds appropriated by the New Mexico Legislature and approved by voters in 2022.

“I’m very thankful to everyone who made these new and improved facilities possible – from our lawmakers, voters, colleagues from across campus, construction workers, and, of course, our dedicated faculty and staff in the School of Nursing,” said Alexa Doig, director of the School of Nursing. “This investment moves our programs into the 21st century, giving us the much-needed tools and space to enhance our student learning experience and train more health care professionals.”

To celebrate the completion of both projects, Doig and the School of Nursing held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 31 for NMSU leaders, dignitaries and community partners. About 75 people toured the spaces during the event, as students demonstrated the new equipment.

The facility improvements mark a significant milestone for the School of Nursing. It comes two years after the school launched the first Doctor of Nursing Practice program in New Mexico dedicated to training and producing certified registered nurse anesthetists. The program aims to fill critical workforce needs in New Mexico and surrounding regions.

“HEST is proud to support the School of Nursing in opening the operating room and tremendously excited about the opportunities this new facility will generate to provide more hands-on clinical training for students, more innovative research for faculty, and greater engagement between health care professionals here on campus and the patients, families and communities we serve,” said Rick Marlatt, dean of the College of HEST.

The simulated operating room, known as the Nurse Anesthesiology Perioperative Training Center, provides a comprehensive range of educational experiences – from advanced anesthesia skills training to highly realistic simulated patient care scenarios.

It is equipped with medical-grade equipment, high-fidelity patient mannequins capable of replicating a wide range of clinical conditions and advanced audiovisual technology, such as high-resolution cameras with live-streaming capabilities, enabling real-time observation, feedback and debriefing.

The School of Nursing Skills and Simulation Center first opened in 2004.

The addition of the operating room gives students in the nurse anesthesiology program hands-on training in inducing anesthesia – an intricate process that involves administering medications to render a patient unconscious and paralyzed for surgery – and inserting an endotracheal tube to support breathing.

“The updated SIM lab is a huge benefit because we’re getting to run through emergency scenarios and situations we might face in the OR,” said Lindsay Gray, who is part of the nurse anesthesiology program’s first class.

After the lab opened last month, Gray and other students in her cohort performed an exercise involving a pediatric patient who stopped breathing while waking up from anesthesia.

“We had to figure out how to fix the situation, and we had to talk through what we were doing,” she said. “It looks and feels real. We have a monitor displaying all the vital signs, much like those in a real operating room.”

Gray believes the updated SIM lab will be especially helpful to new students.

“Now they’re going to get to walk through how to show up to the OR, how to prepare, how to intubate patients, and I think it will really ease, the anxiety and stress of starting clinicals,” said Gray, who expects to graduate in August 2026, after which she plans to work at a Las Cruces hospital.

For more information about the School of Nursing, visit https://schoolofnursing.nmsu.edu.

Carlos Carrillo López writes for New Mexico State University Marketing and Communications and can be reached at 575-646-1955, or by email at carlopez@nmsu.edu.