Dream Come True

Tonight was fun! and rewarding.

Back in April and May 2010, after being accepting into the nursing program, I had so many questions! I started my summer courses and made some friends - they too had questions about things were were told/expected to do before the start of clinicals. Information and rumors and half-truths made their way from person to person and we all kinda felt like we were expected to figure things out for ourselves - but fearful that maybe we were missing something important. At that point, we didn't have relationships or connections with faculty or staff that had the answers to our questions. It was frustrating. So somewhere over the course of the summer and into the start of my first clinical semester (fall), I began dreaming of how helpful it might be for new students to be able to attend a Q&A session with current or graduating students where we could ask our burning questions and they could share tips and advice with us! I dreamt of organizing something like this for the new students in 2011, but I knew I could not do something like this on my own. So instead, I focused my energies on going to Haiti.

Then in January of this year, the faculty invited students to consider restarting the student nurse's association and they'd need officers/leaders.To make a long-story short, I put my name in the hat and was elected Co-President of our student nurse's association. In the back of my mind was the hope that maybe this group would get behind the idea of a Q&A. And they did! and someone else had the great idea to do a Q&A for prospective students in addition to the newly admitted nursing students.

So TONIGHT the officers of our newly formed student nurse's association hosted a Q&A for prospective nursing students. We sent out an email to the entire college community and invited those interested in the program to come ask us questions about the program (actually they pre-submitted questions with their RSVP). We had about 30 attendees-a great turn out. Very manageable size group. I think about 25% of the attendees are awaiting news of their acceptance in to the program for next year. Room for improvement in execution, but overall I think the folks who came had their questions answered. We had our program director there tonight (who I like very much and who has been so very supportive) and she was able to address some of the application/admissions-type questions that we couldn't begin to answer with any authority.

In a little over a month, we'll be hosting two more Q&A events, this time for the newly admitted nursing students (they find out April 15). We are planning to put a flyer into their welcome packets (which generate a whole new set of questions!) I'm HOPING that by offering these newbies a venue for asking their questions, we might save the nursing administration from having to answer the same question(s) 97 times. So now that we've got our first Q&A under our belts, we can look forward to preparing for the new students!

It really is very satisfying to see this come to fruition. This semester one of the topics/discussions in our nursing dimensions course was about nursing activism and the unique opportunities of nurse's to effect change in policy whether it be at the national, state, community or workplace levels. It occurred to me last week, that my own frustrating experience as a new student gave me a vision for what could be.  And rather than allowing the status quo to continue, I can be part of the solution. And while we aren't changing policy or programs within the nursing program itself, we as a student group are able fill a need by reaching out and providing a hearty, supportive welcome to the new students by inviting them to come and ask their many questions.

I'm really excited about the next two Q&A's. I'd love it if these became a regular event - not that I will be a part of them... but I just think they are really that important.