Pamela Hard, RN Nursing Lab Makes Nursing Easier

One of the program’s best on-campus resources for student training is the Pamela Hard, RN Nursing Lab at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus. There, students learn and practice skills such as safe medication administration, intravenous infusion, tracheostomy, and wound care. A gift from nurse Pamela Hard’s family in her memory established the lab, which opened in fall 2023.

“Pam always said that she received as much from her patients as they received from her. It would give her great joy to see all of you train in this lab and use your skills to care for others,” said Bill Hard, at the lab’s November 3, 2023 dedication event. 

“The lab mimics a hospital setting, with equipment and supplies that are relevant to local patient care facilities,” says Jennifer Knowlton, MS, RN, CNE, nursing lab manager. “It also contains mannequins and trainers that match the diversity of our community for demonstrating and practicing common nursing skills and procedures.”

Knowlton, a nursing instructor with 23 years of nursing experience; 18 at bedside as a critical care RN and five years as the nursing lab manager, says first-semester students often arrive to the lab timid and nervous. “As they progress through the program, they realize the lab is a safe place to ask questions and make mistakes. They develop confidence in their abilities and begin to assist one another in practice,” she says.

Bill Hard and his family established the nursing lab at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus and also established the Pamela R. Hard Nursing Scholarship, which, to-date, has provided 13 nursing students with scholarship support. 

“Each time one of our nursing students walks through the lab door, he or she will see Pam’s photo and be reminded of her legacy,” said Joyce Matthews, executive director, Montgomery College Foundation.