The opening of the new Betty and Bob Beyster Institute for Nursing Research, Advanced Practice, and Simulation was celebrated with a ribbon cutting on Sept. 1, 2015. A lead gift of $8 million from Betty Beyster and the late Dr. Robert Beyster, founder of research and engineering firm SAIC, laid the foundation for the 30,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the existing nursing school. (Pictured above, from left to right, are Mary Ann Beyster, Betty Beyster and Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science Dean Sally Brosz Hardin.)
The institute’s first floor will hold the new and expanded Dickinson Family Foundation Nursing Simulation Center, the keystone of the school’s clinical teaching facilities and a national model for nursing education. The second floor includes the Lizbeth and Walter Smoyer Family Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Education Center focusing on the management of preventive care and leadership of interdisciplinary teams. More than 1,000 APRNs, including 100 with the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, have graduated from USD since 1984.
The institute’s third story focuses on nursing research; its research centers include the Hervey Family, San Diego Foundation Military and Veteran Health Center, the Women and Children’s Health Unit, the Kaye M. Woltman and Melisa R. McGuire Hospice and Palliative Care Education and Research Unit, and the Senior Adult Research Unit and Functional Assessment Apartment. The third floor also includes the Krause Family PhD Research Library and Study.
