A member of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s nursing faculty received this year’s doctoral scholarship from the Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania.
Christine B. Kavanagh, assistant professor of nursing, is pursuing a doctor of nursing practice from Robert Morris University. She was selected based on professional leadership, academic achievement, leadership potential, community service and personal commitment.
Pennsylvania College of Technology nursing students teamed with the college’s Counseling Services Office to encourage students to participate in a brief, anonymous online questionnaire that is designed to help them understand concerns about the way they are feeling and receive feedback about whether – and how – to pursue assistance.
Students in the Fundamentals of Nursing course learned more about the experiences some of their future patients will face, courtesy of a donation of excess medical supplies after a faculty member recovered from a serious health issue. Dulcey J. Frantz, assistant professor of nursing, underwent chemotherapy for bowel cancer and had to use an ostomy bag. “Fortunately, she was able to have a reversal to her ostomy and is doing well,” explained Tushanna M. Habalar, instructor of nursing, who teaches the course. Since she no longer needs the bags, Frantz donated her extra supplies to the class. Every student applied an ostomy bag – with applesauce in it to simulate a bowel movement – and wore it for 24 hours, journaling about the experience. An ostomy is a surgical procedure in which an artificial opening is made to permit the drainage of waste products either into an appropriate organ or to the outside of the body.
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School counselors, along with career and technical educators, included Penn College on a Monday tour of the area’s industrial assets. The guests began their afternoon with lunch in the new welding addition before exploring new and existing welding labs in the Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center, then moved to the Breuder Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center for stopovers in nursing and plastics. The groups visited several businesses in the region prior to arriving on main campus, including Lycoming Engines, Halliburton and Savoy Contract Furniture. Eyewitness News’ Morgan Parrish was along for the tours, which were facilitated by the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.
Pennsylvania College of Technology’s newly chartered chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing was recently recognized as part of the organization’s Showcase of Regional Excellence.
The chapter was recognized for responding to Sigma Theta Tau International President Beth Baldwin Tigges’ call to all chapters and members to “connect, collaborate and catalyze to advance world health.”
An Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to a nursing faculty member during Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Summer 2019 Commencement ceremony.
Terri A. Stone, assistant professor of nursing programs in the college’s School of Nursing & Health Sciences, received the honor at the Community Arts Center on Aug. 10.
Pennsylvania College of Technology presented a Mentorship Award to alumna Andrea (Niklaus) Reed, director of nursing/patient safety, privacy and compliance officer at UPMC Susquehanna Muncy.
The award was bestowed upon Reed by Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour during the Summer 2019 commencement ceremony, held Aug. 10 at the Community Arts Center.
Reed earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in nursing from Penn College in 2007 and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in nursing from University of Phoenix in 2014 and a Master of Science in Nursing with a focus in leadership and health care administration from Grand Canyon University in 2018.
Physician assistant students recently visited the surgical technology lab for the last of three simulated patient cases that allowed them to participate as care providers in the emergency room, as operating room assistants and as hospitalists. Students in the ER role encountered the patients, portrayed by nursing students. They diagnosed their patient’s malady and recommended treatment. In the surgical technology lab, Scott A. Geist, director of surgical technology, led OR students through a hands-on simulation of the recommended surgery. Students acting as hospitalists then provided follow-up care.
A total of 275 students have petitioned to graduate following Pennsylvania College of Technology’s summer sessions. A commencement ceremony is set for Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Community Arts Center.
The student speaker for the 11 a.m. event will be Dylan Gary Otis, of Wyalusing, who will be presented with Associate of Applied Science degrees in heavy construction equipment technology: technician emphasis and heavy construction equipment technology: operator emphasis.
A dozen residential Pre-College Programs and a daytime Creative Art Camp brought hundreds of young women and men to Penn College’s campuses in mid-June, providing hands-on entry to the myriad career opportunities reflected in the institution’s postsecondary curriculum. Keeping campers (and PCToday photographers) busy in recent days were these fun learning opportunities, some of which involved culminating projects: Architecture Odyssey, Autism Spectrum Post-Secondary Interest Experience (ASPIE), Automotive Restoration, Aviation, Building Construction (new this year), Creative Art Camp, Engineering, Future Restaurateurs, Graphic Design Summer Studio, Grow & Design Horticulture, Health Careers, Information Technology and SMART (Science and Math in Real-world Technologies) Girls.
A pair of first-term state senators visited Penn College on Thursday, stopping by several academic areas in the School of Nursing & Health Sciences and the School of Industrial, Engineering & Computing Technologies. The tour, abbreviated by a stormy forecast (but no less valuable), took Sens. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) and Judy Ward (R-Altoona) to nursing, dental hygiene and three labs in the college’s ABET-accredited plastics program. The tour covered substantial ground: In addition to curricular information on all six schools, the legislators were apprised of the college’s integral corporate advisers, the focused global experiences of students traveling abroad, high-profile internship opportunities, and the essential contributions of equipment and expertise by business and industry. Also on the tour were President Davie Jane Gilmour; state Sen. Gene Yaw, chairman of the college’s board of directors; Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic operations/associate provost; Patrick Marty, chief of staff and assistant to the president for college relations; Zack Moore, vice president for government and community relations at Penn State; Jon Hopcraft, chief of staff to Phillips-Hill; and Senate photographer Christopher J. Guerrisi.
College employees rallied to provide nearly 40 educational sessions for middle schoolers from across the region who visited campus on Monday for the college’s twice-a-year Career Day. Facilitated by the college’s College Transitions Office, the event provided 1,267 students with opportunities to explore a wide variety of careers in each of the college’s six academic schools. Visitors included 13 schools and home-schooled students.
WELLSBORO – A facility gifted to Pennsylvania College of Technology by UPMC Susquehanna is serving a new purpose as a site for instruction in practical nursing, medical assistant and other health care careers, as well as customized training for business and industry.
The 8,400-square-foot Penn College at Wellsboro facility, located at 22 Walnut St., was formally dedicated today in ceremonies that included members of the Penn College community, representatives of UPMC, elected officials and stakeholders, and others.
Nursing students participated in a simulation in April that made them think about the choices they would make – and that many of their future patients will face – given the constraints of poverty.
During a “poverty simulation,” created by Missouri Community Action Network, students in a Community Health Nursing course were assigned to families with specified incomes and adhered to several rules: spending seven minutes of each 15-minute week at work (if they were employed); making sure children were cared for; paying for transportation to get to any destination; keeping their home secure and their utilities on; making loan payments; and providing adequate food, clothing and health care for their dependents.
The Student Nurses’ Association teamed up with six other campus organizations and Student Activities to raise about $1,800 at Tuesday’s “Penn College for a Cure” cancer benefit walk. Joining SNA in the successful collaboration were Circle K, PC Alliance, the Penn College Construction Association, Omega Delta Sigma and Phi Mu Delta fraternities, and Wildcat Events Board. The groups organized a full slate of fun: painting, pies in the face, ladder golf, cornhole, a silent auction – even human whack-a-mole! The American Cancer Society’s Ellen Bokeko helped facilitate the event, coordinating a guest speaker who lost a young daughter to the disease.