News about Nursing

Students in the Community Health Nursing course recently provided a round of one-hour wellness courses for Pennsylvania College of Technology employees.

Four sessions were presented in early April on two topics: “Colon: Love Your Interworks” and “Suffering From Burnout.”

For each session, a team of students presented research; developed websites, handouts and tools to check participants’ understanding; and provided learning activities.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology has granted faculty emeritus status to Dorothy M. “Dottie” Mathers, a professor of nursing who retired in December after 27 years of full-time teaching and 30 years of service overall to the college.

Mathers began teaching nursing full time at Penn College in 1994. Prior to that, she was a part-time clinical instructor and laboratory instructor for the college from 1991-94.

In 2014, she received the Veronica M. Muzic Master Teacher Award, the highest honor accorded to a faculty member at Penn College. She was also a recipient of the college’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2009.

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For the second consecutive year, 100% of Pennsylvania College of Technology associate degree graduates who took the national board examination for registered nurses passed on their first attempt, while those in the college’s bachelor’s degree nursing and practical nursing majors also exceeded state and national pass rates on their licensing exams.

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing recently released pass rates for the NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses) and the NCLEX-PN, for practical nurses. Results are for those who took the exams for the first time between Oct. 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021.

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Students and faculty in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s nursing program will soon be honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students and The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty.

The awards are part of The DAISY Foundation’s mission to express gratitude to nurses through programs that recognize them for the extraordinary, compassionate and skillful care they provide patients and families.

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For nursing student and women’s basketball player Allison M. “Allie” Troup, no stranger to juggling on-the-court dynamism with in-the-lab rigor, Penn College represents the “perfect match.” “There’s many challenges that go along with it,” the Huntingdon resident says in a two-minute Wildcat Spotlight video. “It’s pretty difficult to manage my time, but I tend to do a pretty good job with it because I’m very organized and I kind of give myself a set schedule.”

Pennsylvania College of Technology has expanded enrollment to increase its capacity to educate licensed practical nurses seeking advancement to a registered nursing license, consequently meeting the increasing need for RNs in the workforce.

The college will begin offering students acceptance into its LPN-to-RN major twice each year – in December and June. Previously, the college only accepted students into the selective-admission major in December.

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Penn College’s Student Nurses’ Association held a weeklong donation drive for the Lycoming County SPCA at the close of the Fall 2021 semester, delivering a variety of critically needed items to the Reach Road agency. The group supported its community by raising an estimated $200 worth of dog and cat food, cat and dog treats, kitten supplies, toys, and office and cleaning supplies. All proceeds were dropped off by nursing majors Callie A. Sobolewski (at left in photo), of Budd Lake, New Jersey, the organization’s 2021 president; and Ritika Nayak (center), of Monroe Township, New Jersey, 2022 president and last year’s SNA public relations officer; and nursery instructor Sadie L. Folmar, the club’s faculty adviser. Email for more about the Student Nurses’ Association, among the active student organizations aligned with the college’s academic majors.
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Twenty-two Penn College students who enjoy volunteering their time – including members of student organizations and the Wildcat women’s basketball team – gathered with Shannon L. Skaluba, student organization specialist, in CC Commons on Saturday to write heartfelt messages of gratitude in nearly 450 holiday cards for military personnel. The cards were donated by Sarah R. Yoder, coordinator of admissions operations, and her husband, Adam J., an industrial technology specialist with Workforce Development; as well as Chet Beaver, coordinator of veteran and military services; and Skaluba.

The cards will be distributed with the help of Sarah, who has worked with the United Soldiers and Sailors of America program for the last several years. Her brother, Michael Shott, is a first lieutenant in the Army on active duty, currently serving stateside following a recent deployment.

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“If a career in a health care setting is your calling, your path to a thriving career starts right here at Penn College,” says dental hygiene student Dacia James, who leads a virtual tour of the School of Nursing & Health Sciences. The Williamsport resident (aided by Ally K. Swartz, a paramedic technician major from Bellefonte, and Alexia O. Zelenevskaya, a dental hygiene student from Ephrata) guides viewers through an 11-minute exploration of paramedic, physician assistant, dental hygiene, nursing, physical therapist assistant, surgical technology, radiography and applied health studies, as well as the school’s newest majors: health science and allied health.

Pennsylvania College of Technology has named Wendie L. Snyder, an alumna with 25 years’ experience in a variety of roles in the health care profession, director of College Health Services.

Snyder, who began her duties Aug. 11, comes to Penn College from Geisinger Health System, where she had been an operations manager for outpatient surgery clinics including dental medicine; oral maxillofacial surgery; vascular surgery; and plastic, reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. She also has served as clinic nurse supervisor for the plastic surgery outpatient clinic at Geisinger and registered nurse manager for the general surgery outpatient clinic at Evangelical Community Hospital, Lewisburg.

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A new video on Penn College’s YouTube channel acquaints viewers with Pamela W. Baker, who balances an ongoing nursing career with educating the next generation of health care heroes. “It’s important to have teachers like Mrs. Baker,” said Kathryn M. “Katie” Faust, who graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. “Because when I actually do go out into the clinical field and I’m practicing as a nurse, I feel like she really prepares you for real life.” Baker works as a R.N. in the cardiac recovery wing at Geisinger Medical Center over semester breaks, and being an educator offers a whole new level of flexibility – one that gives her more time with family and her border collie. “I went to school to be a nurse and I can still be a nurse,” said Baker, who will begin the Fall 2021 semester as an associate professor of nursing programs. “And although I was making a career change when I switched to a faculty role, I didn’t have to give up either of my careers.”

A sunset gathering in West Virginia will be scheduled in memory of Pamela L. Starcher, Penn College’s former director of nursing, who died Saturday, June 26. Hired as a full-time faculty member in August 1998, she assumed the director’s position in June 1999 and retired 10 years later.

An obituary in the Parkersburg (W.Va.) News and Sentinel directs that, “In lieu of flowers, Pam would enjoy knowing that one animal was saved at your local shelter, a student nurse can afford to complete a program of study, a dying patient has something soft and pretty to keep them warm, or your most precious gift is shared now and not later – time.”

Arrangements are being handled by Anders-Rice Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Asheville, North Carolina.

Penn College’s “My Tomorrow” program (June 21-24 and June 28-July 1) opened middle-schoolers’ minds to a variety of vocational possibilities through hands-on activities and faculty-led sessions. The initiative, sponsored by the Soars Family, exposed students to a number of prospective careers – such as engineering, business and hospitality, the arts, and health sciences – as well as giving them a jump on charting their paths to success and satisfaction.

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Nursing alumna Stephanie Suzadail, whose airborne delivery of emergency care is featured in the spring issue of Penn College Magazine, recently established two aptly named funds in support of Pennsylvania College of Technology students.

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From the Spring 2021 Penn College Magazine: Having weathered many challenges herself, Geisinger Life Flight’s Stephanie Suzadail, ’14, loves to provide calm in the center of the storm. Read “A flight nurse’s calling.”