HOFSTRA NORTHWELL SCHOOL OF NURSING
AND PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT STUDIES
Clinical Excellence Through Simulation and Partnership
Preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals begins with immersive, hands-on clinical education. Through its partnership with Northwell Health, the School leverages an extensive network of clinical sites, distinguished expert faculty, and innovative clinical practice platforms that support immersive, hands-on education.
This integrated approach ensures that graduates develop the clinical competence, critical thinking skills, and professional judgment necessary to deliver safe, compassionate, and high-quality patient care.
Advanced Clinical Education Resources
Hofstra’s clinical education is strengthened by state-of-the-art simulation and experiential learning environments, including:
- Simulation Lab activities at Science and Innovation Center (Hofstra University) — High-fidelity simulations that promote critical thinking, clinical judgment, and patient safety.
- Standardized patient encounters at the Clinical Skills Center (Hofstra University) — Structured, realistic patient interactions designed to enhance diagnostic reasoning, communication, and professionalism.
- Procedural skills education at the Bioskills Education Center (Northwell Health) — A unique cadaveric experience designed to provide hands-on practice to build technical competence and confidence in essential clinical procedures.
Together, these resources ensure that Hofstra nursing and PA students’ graduate practice-ready, equipped with the knowledge, skills, and experience to deliver exceptional patient care.
Simulation Center
The Hofstra Simulation Center provides an immersive, technology-enhanced learning environment designed to prepare healthcare students for real-world clinical practice. The Simulation Center provides an exceptional educational experience, featuring two fully equipped operating room suites and a state-of-the-art intensive care suite housing several patient and simulation control rooms. Through high-fidelity manikins, realistic clinical scenarios, and interdisciplinary team-based education, students develop critical thinking, clinical judgment, communication, and patient safety skills in a supportive, controlled setting. The Simulation Center bridges classroom learning with hands-on experience, allowing students to practice complex procedures, respond to emergent situations, and refine decision-making skills before entering clinical environments. By integrating simulation into the curriculum, Hofstra ensures graduates are confident, competent, and practice-ready.
Clinical Skills Center
The Hofstra Clinical Skills Center is a dynamic learning environment where students refine essential assessment, diagnostic, and communication skills through hands-on practice and structured patient encounters. Utilizing standardized patients and realistic clinical scenarios, the Center allows learners to develop clinical reasoning, physical examination techniques, and professional communication in a safe, supportive setting. A standardized patient is an individual who has been carefully trained to portray a patient, family member or other character during an encounter with a learner. Standardized patient roles range from the simple (routine physical exam) to the more complex (disease diagnosis), offering the learner a wide variety of experiences. Learners may interact with the standardized patient in small-group settings or in one-on-one encounters.
Their detailed and realistic portrayal of patients, family members, staff members, and administrators provides a unique and practical experience for learners from a variety of disciplines. The Clinical Skills Center provides a safe environment in which learners are able to practice physical examination skills, history-taking skills, and communication skills, and receive immediate feedback from faculty, peers, and the standardized patient.
Bioskills Education Center at Northwell Health
The Bioskills Education Center , a member of Northwell Health, is a 6,200-square-foot, cutting-edge educational facility focused on advancing surgical and clinical education to Northwell attending physicians, students, residents, nurses, surgical technologists, and others in the medical field. Curriculum includes unique cadaveric experiences designed to provide hands-on practice to build technical competence and confidence in essential clinical procedures to students of the Hofstra School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies.
The Center offers comprehensive surgical education, continuing medical education programs, and research opportunities utilizing advanced video and endoscopic surgical technologies. Committed to delivering a high-quality hands-on learning experience, the Bioskills Education Center conducts regional, national, and international workshops using cadaveric specimens to support the ongoing development of physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, professional organizations, and students. All anatomical tissue used in the Bioskills laboratory is sourced from agencies licensed by New York State for educational use cadaveric specimens to support the ongoing development of physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, professional organizations, and students.
All anatomical tissue used in the Bioskills laboratory is sourced from agencies licensed by New York State for educational use.