By Mandi Enger
Anxiously anticipating graduation this May, regular-track nursing students assembled at the Dawson Campus on March 23, 2012 to exhibit Senior Community Project Presentations to Nevada State College students, faculty, and staff.
Each year, last-semester nursing students partner with community organizations to develop their clinical, communication, and research skills in a practical setting. In collaboration with each partnering facility, student groups select a research topic based upon a current need within the organization. During the research process, students are hands-on, providing patient care and working with medical staff and administration. At the end of the study, students provide recommendations based upon their research findings. In many cases the student recommendations are adopted by the organizations.
Our senior projects truly help us research information that can be used to help the community as a whole, said Germania Skidmore, a presenting nursing student. It’s exciting to see our research being considered for implementation.
Expanding upon clinical work, the senior nursing community projects are one of the final steps in preparing well-rounded nurses who are ready for the challenges of the field.
Because education typically takes place in acute care facilities, students are somewhat unfamiliar with community centered nursing efforts, stated Carol Dahn, a lecturer in the School of Nursing. However, through community projects, students learn case management skills and become aware of and comfortable with resources that will be available to them once they join the workforce.
This semester, the three groups of senior nursing students selected Family Home Hospice, Southwest Medical Associates Urgent Care, and the Clark County School District as their partnering community organizations and were eager to share their respective recommendations for projects including Nutrition at Life’s End, Promoting Diabetic Compliance, and Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking.
Nutrition at Life’s End
Discovering the need to treat both patients as well as family members in home health environments, students in the Family Home Hospice clinical group developed an educational pamphlet outlining the decreased need for fluids and nutrition at life’s end. Designed for the comfort and understanding of patient’s family members, the pamphlet is currently in review for possible integration into the standard care provided by Family Home Hospice.
My family has been a user of home health providers and now I have a true understanding of both the patient and care provider side, said Winnie Wegner, a student in the group. I appreciate the work and dedication required for the job and I’m very interested in pursuing this career path.
Promoting Diabetic Compliance
Partnering with Southwest Medical Associates Urgent Care, the second group of nursing students discovered the need for clear and consistent post-urgent care direction for diabetic patients. In efforts to support patients post-care and help prevent future emergency complications, a packet was developed consisting of diabetic class registration information, a nutritional outline, primary care physician recommendations, and additional information on diabetic care.
Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking
The final group of students joined with Clark County School District (CCSD) to research the sex trafficking of minors and develop resources for health care providers, educators, and social workers. The students organized a presentation outlining warning signs of domestic minor sex trafficking, screening questions for possible victims along with a process for assisting those involved. The research presented by the NSC students to CCSD school nurses, staff and administrators is now being developed into a simulation lab by the Consolidated Simulation Center of Las Vegas that will be utilized on an ongoing basis by both the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine and the Masters of Nursing program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
It’s important to provide our students with the opportunity to present their work to the NSC community especially pre-nursing students who will see the amount of professional work and exposure our nursing students receive, said Dee Riley, a lecturer in the School of Nursing. We’re extremely proud of the work exhibited this semester and look forward to the future achievements of our upcoming BSN graduates.
Month:
NSC Honors Faculty and Staff During Appreciation Dinner
March 22, 2012
By Mandi Enger
During an annual appreciation dinner and awards ceremony held on March 22, 2012, Nevada State College President Bart Patterson joined members of the Board of Regents, the Nevada State College Foundation, and NSC faculty and staff to honor accomplishments of the campus community made during the 2011 school year.
The skill, passion, and innovation of each of our team members is outstanding, said Patterson. It’s important for us to take time each year to acknowledge the accomplishments and success of our entire campus in providing a quality education and experience for our students.”
During the ceremony, Technology Fellows, Part-Time Faculty, Classified Employee of the Year, iTeach, and Anniversary award recipients were recognized.
TECHNOLOGY FELLOWS
The mission of the Technology Fellows program is to advance excellence in teaching, student, and customer service while embracing the College’s Core Values. Participants achieve this goal through both instructional and community/student service projects that use technology to improve program delivery.
This year’s honorees worked in a new learning management system platform anticipating ways of designing courses with new tools and a new interface and building essential course sites for the transition, Sam McCool, Instructional Technology Manager at NSC stated as he introduced the honorees and detailed their contributions.
2011 HONOREES:
Robin Herlands, Online Active Learning Tools for Preparing Science Students for Laboratory
Jim LaBuda, Cooperating Teacher Online Resource Center
Linda Jacobson, Revision of Nursing 408 Conceptual Bases in Nursing
Kathryn Mulvey, Student WebCampus Orientation for Bb Learn
INTEGRATE AWARDS
Through the collaborative efforts and resources of each of the Nevada System of Higher Education institutions, System Computing Services, and Cedar Crestone consulting, the iNtegrate project was launched July 2008, with all institutions successfully going live Fall 2011.
The fundamental Integrate team members were recognized by NSC CFO, Buster Neel.
NSC IMPLEMENTATION TEAM MEMBERS:
Andrea Martin
Cory McDonald
Neil Woolf
Arturo Torres
Brian Chongtai
Adelfa Sullivan
Sebern Coleman
Annie Macias
Anthony Morrone
PART-TIME FACULTY AWARDS
Nominated by faculty members, part-time instructors are acknowledged each year for their skill, knowledge and dedication that provides an exceptional learning experience for each NSC student.
Provost Erika Beck introduced the 2011 honorees by sharing a student comment describing the merit of each recipient.
2011 HONOREES:
Ted Berg, Business Administration
Maria Stafford, Humanities
Chris Kolar, Education
Shannon Adams, Nursing
Brian Martinelli, Physical and Life Sciences
Nicole Bies-Hernandez, Social Sciences
Teri Romeo, Speech Pathology
Congratulations to all of our Part-Time Instructor award winners. We commend you for your dedication and support to Nevada State College, finished Beck.
CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR
Each year classified employees are nominated by faculty and staff for the outstanding efforts made within their departments as well as their dedication to the overall success of the college. Nominations are reviewed by a selection committee for the recommendation of one award recipient.
2011 HONOREE:
Sally Starkweather, School of Education
Sally exhibits a professional demeanor and is always kind, courteous, and ready to lend a helping hand, announced Lee Young, Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Management during the ceremony.
ITEACH
iTeach awards have been presented annually since 2006 to those members of the NSC family who best exemplify the values of Innovation, Teaching Excellence, Economic Development, Assessment, Customer Service, and Heritage.
In addition, the iTeach team trophy is presented to one unit which best demonstrates the iTeach core values.
2011 HONOREES:
Innovation, Gregory Robinson
Teaching Excellence, Gwen Sharp and Rho Hudson
Economic Development, Sherri Coffman
Assessment, Tony Scinta and Neil Woolf
Customer Service, Velanie Williams
Heritage, Kebret Kebede
Unit Award, School of Education
ANNIVERSARY AWARDS
Unique to the awards event this year, six NSC members were recognized for reaching their ten-year employment anniversaries an anniversary shared also with the college.
2011 HONOREES:
Erika Beck
Jaime Castle
Sherri Coffman
Richard Moore
Rho Hudson
Spencer Stewart
As NSC commemorates its tenth year of service and full accreditation, it’s important for us to also recognize the NSC members who have helped build our college from the very beginning, said Patterson. Together, our entire team will continue to expand and strengthen NSC into the next decade.
NSC Academic Advisor receives Chandler Award for Master’s work at San Jose State University
By Mandi Enger
As a part of NSC’s commitment to fostering ongoing education for students as well as faculty and staff, NSC is proud to congratulate Adeste Sipin, an esteemed Academic Advisor at the college, for receiving the prestigious Chandler Award from San Jose State University (SJSU).
Since 2009, the Chandler Award has been designated annually to two SJSU sociology students for their excellence on social theory and/or research methodology established through written comprehensive examinations. Perusing a Master’s of Arts in Sociology from SJSU, Adeste Sipin was the sole recipient of both honors for the 2012 school year. The award was accepted by Sipin on February 24, 2012 during an awards luncheon with the Chandler family.
Adeste joined the NSC team in 2006 after graduation from the University of California, Los Angeles where he received dual bachelor degrees in Economics and Asian American Studies. Initially brought on as an Academic Recruiter, he was quickly promoted to Academic Advisor.
After meeting Adeste when he first joined the NSC advising team, I immediately recognized his aptitude for working with others as well as his love for learning. I knew he’d continue to advance in his educational career and encouraged him to do so, shared Erika Beck, Provost and Executive Vice President at Nevada State College.
With an ongoing attention and curiosity of social issues, Sipin enrolled in two undergraduate sociology courses at NSC.
Adeste became interested in sociology after taking a gender course, and in both gender and the race/ethnicity class, his critical thinking skills immediately stood out, stated Dr. Gwen Sharp of NSC. I knew from the first paper he turned in to me that he would make an excellent sociologist, and I’m just glad he fell in love with the discipline.
After completing the two sociology courses, Sipin took a two-year hiatus from his career at NSC to enter the SJSU graduate program. Sipin was ready to excel in his courses, even as the area of study was relatively new to him in comparison to other graduate students.
My intent from the first day was to be number one and really shine in the eyes of my professors and other students. This is a goal I encourage my NSC students to take on as well, said Sipin.
This spring Adeste plans to finish the writing of his thesis, detailing his research surrounding fraternity attitudes towards the gay population.
“I used my entire coursework at SJSU to prepare for my thesis. I’m looking forward to defending my paper this June for publication later in the year, he continued.
Moving forward, Sipin aspires to continue his study of social science through a doctoral program and ultimately become a professor of sociology at Nevada State.
There is a true entrepreneurial spirit at NSC that continues to motivate me. You can easily feel the support and encouragement that is needed to advance and reach your goals students, staff and faculty alike, finished Sipin.
