61st Annual ANSA Convention
– Megan Black
The Senior BSN Class represents Southern Arkansas University Nursing at the 61st Annual Arkansas Nursing Students’ Association Convention in Little Rock.
Over 1,000 students from across Arkansas gathered in Little Rock from October 10-12 to meet for the 61st Annual Arkansas Nursing Students’ Association Convention. Representing Southern Arkansas University were over 40 Senior BSN students including 12 who participated as delegates in the House of Delegates.
This year’s Convention theme, “Empowering Students Today to be Tomorrow’s Leaders,” embraced the overall mission of ANSA and also captured the spirit of nursing’s future. As Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe has declared 2012 “The Year of the Nurse,” it is an exciting and important time in healthcare for students and professionals.
Students participated in sessions focusing on areas like graduate school planning, test taking strategies and various fields of nursing. Representatives from Kaplan and Hurst were also on site to hold review sessions for NCLEX.
In the House of Delegates, students participated in mock debates and reviewed resolutions passed on the national level. Delegates also selected the new ANSA Board of Directors for the upcoming year.
Nursing Spotlight: CVICU at a Glance
– Sarah Preston, RN, BSN, CVICU Coordinator
Sarah Preston, RN, BSN, CVICU Coordinator
Hello, nursing students! I hope you are all having a great semester so far. As an alumni of the SAU Nursing Program, I want to give a few words of encouragement.
First, do not be discourage! Nursing school is not easy. In fact, if it were easy, everyone would do it. I truly believe that being a nurse is a calling. You either love it or know right away that it is not for you. Who would have thought that we would get excited about someone’s veins!
Second, there is life after school. I promise. When I was in ADN school, I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. I had a husband and a full-time job and drove an hour back and forth each day. But in May of 2003, I managed to pull it off – I was a real nurse!
During nursing school, I was very blessed to be a patient care tech at the Medical Center of South Arkansas (MCSA). It was during that time of working in all the areas of the hospital that I knew I wanted to work in Critical Care.
After graduation, I stayed at MCSA and grew in my critical thinking abilities. After three years of being an ICU nurse, the idea of Cardiovascular ICU came about. I fell in love with cardiac immediately. I trained in Northwest Arkansas to learn how to take care of open heart surgery patients and was lucky enough to recover the first open heart patient at MCSA. At that point in my career, I knew I was in the right spot. I eventually became a charge nurse in CVICU and almost two years ago, transitioned into the manager role of CVICU.
Third, do not be afraid or intimidated to go back to school. Get all of the education you can. I always said once I got my Associate’s degree, I would never go back to school. One of my mentors, Becky Parnell, encouraged and encouraged me until one day I decided to go for it. My goal was to become a Nurse Practitioner and work in a hospital in the cardiac field. With Adult Practitioner as my goal, I went through the RN to BSN program at UAMS in Little Rock.
Senior BSN Student Karla Fuller educates pre-nursing students in a simulation lab experience on vital signs during their past visit to Wharton Nursing Building.
Since then I have grown so much in my role as CVICU Coordinator. I am responsible for 19-20 employees, who are responsible for all of our patients. The CVICU Team takes care of anything cardiac from open hearts, carotids, vascular surgeries, lung surgeries, chest pain, cardiac arrhythmias and more.
As coordinator, I still get to take care of our patients which helps me keep my skills up to date, but I also have other responsibilities. My day to day activities include payroll for each employee, attending meetings, a capitol budget for CVICU, inventory, maintenance of the CVICU (beds, monitors, etc.), interacting with my staff and making sure they have the things they need to do their job.
Out of all of my responsibilities, the most important is rounding daily on every CVICU patient. If there is one thing that I want you to get out of this, it is that the patient will always come first. Nursing has changed so much even since I graduated 10 years ago, but even with all of the changes, the patient remains the same. Our patients still want to be cared for in a way that makes them feel safe and puts them on the pathway to heal.
So, the moral of the story is stay positive in everything that you do. You will make it out of nursing school. It is not any easy road, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I wish for all of you that you find your place in nursing. For me, it has and will continue to be very rewarding.
Pre-Nursing Visit
– Megan Black
On October 2, a Freshman Seminar class of pre-nursing majors visited Wharton Nursing Building to talk with senior nursing students and faculty and tour the facility.
The pre-nursing students asked about the various requirements (courses, GPA, etc.) to get into the nursing program at SAU. They also inquired about study tips and what it is really like to be a nursing student. Senior Kinze Pickett said, “It’s not like regular classes in college. I never had to study before and now all I do is study.”
The students were also given a tour of the simulation lab. The “sim lab” is where nursing students practice their skills before going into the clinical environment. The students were shown some of the various skills the nursing students perform and also got to try.
If you are interested in nursing, sign up for SNA here and like us on Facebook at “Southern Arkansas University Student Nurses’ Association” to stay up-to-date. +
2012 Mulerider Homecoming
– Megan Black
Southern Arkansas University Homecoming is a time for students and alumni to come together in celebration of the shared memories and experiences college life brings. It is at homecoming where we reunite with old friends and meet new ones. This year’s theme, “Coming Home,” could not express a more appropriate sentiment.
The student organizations at SAU will use this theme to compete for Homecoming Grand Champion and the Mulerider Spirit Award. Organizations will earn points throughout the week for participating and placing events. The winners will be announced during halftime of Saturday’s Homecoming Game.
The first event is SAB’s Drive-in Movie on Tuesday, October 16 at 8:30 pm in the Reynolds parking lot. On Wednesday, October 17, burgers will be served in the mall area from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Homecoming Banners are also due by 5:00 pm on Wednesday. There are two events on Thursday, October 18. The Pep Rally, Bonfire and Spirit Log competition begins at 10:45 pm and Street Painting starts at 11:00 pm. Both are in front of the Welcome Center. The SAU Heartbeat will begin Friday, October 19 at Noon and continue until kick-off on Saturday. Finally, Outdoor Displays will be judged at 11:00 am on Saturday next to the Mulegating area. SNA will also be Mulegating with the Nursing Alumni Chapter beginning at 11:00 am. Kick-off is scheduled for 2:30 pm against Southern Nazarene.
Please remember to sign-in at the events so SNA receives credit for your attendance. If you would like to help with the SNA spirit log, banner, display or street painting, please contact Brandy Nash at bvnash7053@muleriders.saumag.edu.
Springhill Screenings
– Megan Black
As part of Community Health Clinical, the Senior BSN students will participate in the Springhill student screenings on Tuesday, October 16.
Earlier in the semester, the BSN students received certification from the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) to participate in scoliosis, BMI, vision and hearing screenings and also mass flu clinics.
Nurses from the ADH demonstrated the use of vision and hearing screening machines and then had the students demonstrate they could use the machines. They also taught the students to screen for scoliosis and how to calculate a BMI. The ADH educated the nursing students on the immunization consent forms and reactions the influenza vaccine might cause. They also covered how a mass flu clinic would function and the students’ role at the clinic site. Students also signed a volunteer form and a confidentiality agreement from the ADH to be able to participate in these clinical settings.
The students will travel to Springhill, AR, with Community Health Course Coordinator Janet Johnson Deeds to help the schools provide health screenings to their students. The Community Health Clinical also plans to assist with the Columbia County Flu Clinic on October 25 in Magnolia.
On the Chart is an e-Newsletter published by the Student Nurses’ Association of Southern Arkansas University. For suggestions or submissions, please contact Megan Black at mlblack9421@muleriders.saumag.edu.
