Staff reports



Goltry’s Paul Ketterman was so thankful for the team of nurses that took care of his late wife, Emma Lee, when she was suffering from cancer, he promised a substantial contribution to help give area nursing students the best possible training.

Today, the public can see what the donation is providing to Enid nursing students at Northwestern Oklahoma State University-Enid and Northern Oklahoma College Enid. The new state-of-the-art clinical skills lab for nursing students and health care professionals will have its open house during a come-and-go reception 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. today.

A brief program is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the Emma Lee Tucker Ketterman Clinical Skills Lab on the NWOSU-Enid campus, 2929 E. Randolph.

Emma Lee Ketterman died of cancer in October 2004. During her illness she was taken care of by nurses, at least one of whom — Susan Ketterman — graduated from the NWOSU nursing program. Ketter-man, now married to Paul Ketterman, said her husband’s late wife was “such a big personality.” She is thankful students now have a state-of-the art training facility.

After Paul Ketterman’s contribution, Enid’s two hospitals and NOC Enid joined to create a partnership to provide students with access to a clinical assimilation lab. The Emma Lee Ketterman Lab also will be used to provide St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center and Integris Bass Baptist Health Center nurses with professional development opportunities.

The open house is hosted by NWOSU, Northern Oklahoma College, St. Mary’s and Integris Bass.

The lab provides learning opportunities for nursing students to develop clinical skills in a simulated but realistic health care setting. The centerpieces of the lab include a computerized Sim-Man patient simulator and Nursing Anne that serve as valuable new tools to prepare students to identify health abnormalities and to effectively practice dealing with clinical emergencies before experiencing them with live patients.

The simulators can breathe, have a pulse, maintain heart rhythm and blood pressure, make sounds and even respond to human touch.

A specially trained op-erator can program the simulators to present students with a range of health care situations, from routine care to emergency situations. Students must perform the appropriate assessments and treatments and the condition of the Sim-Man improves or deteriorates depending on the student’s interventions.

Northwestern employed Kim Bruce, RN, MSN, as coordinator of the Ketterman Lab in July 2006.

“This facility places Northwest-ern’s Division of Nursing on the cutting edge of technology in nursing education and we are thrilled and proud to have such a laboratory within our program,” said Dr. Carole McKenzie, CNM, RN, and chair of the Division of Nursing. “We are most grateful to the Ketterman family and all of our partners in this endeavor.

“By establishing this partnership, we are giving student nurses and graduate nurses in the region the opportunity to utilize great technology in a very cost effective manner. It is a great example of improving all patient care in the region by working together,” McKenzie said.

Construction of the lab began in the fall of 2005 following a gift from Paul Ketterman.

Emma Lee Ketterman was born Feb. 13, 1943, in Holdenville and died Oct. 15, 2004, at her home in Goltry. Raised in Duncan, she received a master’s degree in music from Oberlin (Ohio) University and later attended the Julliard School of Music. She taught music and orchestra in New York City for five years and also performed as a concert pianist.

Ketterman went on to attend the University of Oklahoma, where she earned graduate degrees in library science and foreign language. She taught in schools at Barnsdall, Washington, Waurika and Mexico City before embarking on a 25-year teaching career in Pawhuska. She was a member of Methodist Church at Pawhuska and served as church organist.

She married Paul Ketterman in Ardmore in 1972. The couple moved to Goltry in 1999.

Following the gift from Ketterman, several entities partnered with North-western to equip and operate the lab, including both of Enid’s hospitals — St. Mary’s and Integris Bass — Northern Oklahoma College and Northwest Area Health Education Center.

The lab not only serves nursing students from Northwestern but NOC as well. Continuing professional training for current health care providers also is available.