News about Nursing

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.”

Consistent with previous years, Pennsylvania College of Technology nursing graduates exceeded state and national pass rates on national board examinations – including a 100% pass rate on the exam for registered nurses by associate degree graduates.

Penn College offers degrees for those pursuing registered nurse and practical nurse licensure eligibility.

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing recently released the pass rates for the NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses) and the NCLEX-PN, for practical nurses. Results are for those who took the exams between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2020.

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Donnamarie Lovestrand, assistant professor of nursing at Pennsylvania College of Technology, received the Pennsylvania Association of PeriAnesthesia Nurses’ 2020 Patient Advocate Award.

The award was presented during the association’s Annual Education Conference, held virtually Oct. 6.

The purpose of the Patient Advocate Award is to recognize individuals who demonstrate extraordinary clinical expertise, compassion, commitment, initiative and problem-solving skills in an effort to intervene on a patient’s or family’s behalf.

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Four members of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s nursing faculty recently received doctoral degrees.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology’s nursing program will consider SAT and ACT scores in lieu of a Test of Essential Academic Skills score as part of the criteria for high school students to be directly admitted into its practical nursing and associate and bachelor’s degree nursing majors.

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From the Fall 2020 Penn College Magazine: When spring sports were canceled and classes were moved online, two athletes traded their jerseys for scrubs. Read their stories in “Trading Uniforms.”

Pennsylvania College of Technology is set to begin accepting students into its newest master’s degree offering – a Master of Science in Nursing, nursing education. The application for admission will open in January, with classes set to begin in Fall 2021.

Created for the working nurse, the curriculum for the MSN in nursing education is designed to be completed on a part-time basis within two years. All classes are conducted in an asynchronous, online environment.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology has established a new scholarship to support students completing Workforce Development programs in practical nursing and emergency medical technician who wish to further their education.

The scholarship provides assistance for practical nursing graduates interested in the Nursing, LPN to RN program at Penn College and graduates of the EMT course interested in pursuing one of the college’s paramedic majors.

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A staff member in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s nursing program was just trying things out, experimenting with what she had on hand at home, to facilitate a distance-learning lesson for Adult Health Nursing I students, but the result garnered praise for the realistic learning opportunity it provided.

Valerie J. Kovalick, simulation laboratory coordinator in the nursing program, was tasked with helping faculty to find ways to teach an unfolding case study via distance learning. Typically, Kovalick’s job is to set up such simulations in the college’s nursing labs, where students learn in-person.

The tools Kovalick used included her cellphone and a tripod, a spare computer monitor, Laerdal simulation software, video-editing software made available by the college to employees, poster board, and a husband willing to play along.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology nursing student Connor J. Burke, of St. Clair, is among many in the Penn College family who are working on the health care “front lines” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 20-year-old is a sophomore on the Penn College baseball team and is in his second year of study toward a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Since the summer of 2019, Burke has been an emergency room technician in his hometown hospital, working during summer and other college breaks.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology’s nursing program answers a national call to support nurses who seek academic and career growth.

In a position statement issued in 2019, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing asserts that it “is committed to working with the larger education and healthcare communities to create a highly educated nursing workforce able to meet complex healthcare demands today and in the future. To that end, AACN encourages all nurses to advance their education and supports the many pathways to achieving academic progression in nursing.”

Penn College has been working to provide those pathways through five nursing education options.

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Fulfilling a pre-commencement tradition, Penn College’s nursing program hosted a pinning ceremony for December graduates of the Bachelor of Science in nursing, traditional. Twenty-four nursing graduates received lapel pins during the ceremony, held in the Community Arts Center on Dec. 20, the day before the college’s Fall Commencement. They also heard from speakers selected by the class: nursing faculty member Laura K. Landis, assistant professor of nursing; and fellow December 2019 nursing graduate Dustin E. Neumann, of State College. Following program tradition, the students recited the Nightingale Pledge and “passed the lamp” to a future nursing graduate.
Photo courtesy of Tina R. Strayer, nursing office assistant, completion degrees

Faculty and staff in the Penn College nursing program adopted The Cupboard for the holidays. The Cupboard is an on-campus food pantry for students, operated by Dining Services. Organized by Pamela W. Baker, assistant professor of nursing, the two-week food drive yielded 181 food items and $150 in cash. During the Fall 2019 semester, almost 90 students visited The Cupboard to obtain food.

Pennsylvania College of Technology nursing graduates again exceeded state and national pass rates on national board examinations.

Penn College offers degrees for those pursuing registered nurse and practical nurse licensure eligibility.

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing recently released the pass rates for the NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses) and the NCLEX-PN, for practical nurses. Results are for those who took the exams between Oct. 1, 2018, and Sept. 30, 2019.

Read more