in the West Virginia Panhandle and draws its students from regional rural communities , many of which are challenged to employ enough nurses to meet the demand for care . In 2022 , West Virginia had 21,110 employed registered nurses ( RNs ) for a 1,775,156 State population . On average , there are 11.89 RNs per 1,000 population ( US Census , 2020 ). Similar to many other states , not enough new nurses are graduating to properly manage the volume of people who need any level of care . Thus , there is a critical need to promote nursing as a desirable career pathway to address the nurse shortage .
The “ Aha ” Moment
In 2021 , Shepherd University ’ s School of Nursing ( SU-SON ) began offering summer workshops to interest youth in nursing . At the outset , nursing workshops were planned by nursing faculty who sought to recruit nursing students to deliver the program , which was always a challenge . With the initial goal of expanding SU-SNA membership , the faculty planner ( who also happened to be the SU-SNA advisor ) explored the NSNA webpage to identify new ideas . She read with interest about available leadership grants from the FNSNA . The 3M™ Littmann ® Stethoscope Leadership Development grant became the perfect catalyst for changing the way summer nursing workshops were planned and delivered . Rather than being led by a nurse faculty with some student support , several SU-SNA members took on leadership roles mentored by the faculty advisor . Thus , “ The Future of YOU : Be a NURSE ” workshop idea took shape .
Our “ Why ”
One FNSNA leadership grant requirement is to link the proposed activity with a current NSNA resolution . Upon review of the 2022 resolutions adopted by the NSNA House of Delegates , the best fit was the resolution that supported “ Increasing awareness of the nursing shortage and its impact within the nursing profession ” ( NSNA , 2022-4 , p 7 ). The faculty advisor quickly formed a team of interested SU-SNA leaders to garner their input and complete the FNSNA grant application . With excitement , the FNSNA 3M™ Littmann ® Stethoscope Leadership Development grant was awarded in April 2023 at the NSNA convention in Nashville , TN .
Recognizing that the grant activity was to promote 2023 summer workshops promoting nursing career pathways , a team of 10 nursing students was quickly formed . The majority of students were new to planning a program from idea to implementation . Thus , the SU-SNA faculty advisor guided the students through the planning , implementation , and evaluation phases , while building on students ’ existing leadership skills . Most students were familiar with planning a budget and the importance of evaluation .
“ The Future of YOU : Be a
NURSE ” summer workshops were designed to accomplish three primary objectives : ( 1 ) enhance nursing students ’ leadership skills while coordinating all aspects of an educational program ; ( 2 ) promote interest in nursing career paths to regional high school students , and ( 3 ) showcase Shepherd University and its School of Nursing . Based upon the objectives , the students created the following as workshop goals :
Goal 1 : Develop and expand leadership skills among student nurses who were charged with planning , coordinating , and evaluating all aspects of the youth summer nursing career exploration program .
Goal 2 : Promote awareness among nursing students of the critical need to promote nursing as a career to regional youth in creative and meaningful ways as evidenced by program participant pre and post evaluations .
Goal 3 : Spark high school youth interest in the nursing profession through a summer on-campus workshop .
The learning objectives for participants were as follows :
a ) Recognize professional nursing roles and the requirements for admission to an accredited program .
b ) Appreciate the application of math and science concepts and skills that inform nursing practice .
c ) Explore nursing practice skill sets using both human and high-fidelity patient simulation .
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