unexpected positive outcome was adding a publication to professional resumes .
Excitement , Engagement & Membership Numbers
With a team of five SU-SNA leaders and faculty advisor receiving a first-time leadership grant award in-person and onstage in front of an audience of several thousand at the April 2023 NSNA national convention , a stir of excitement was created . Upon their return from the convention , the nursing faculty publicly recognized SU-SNA for this achievement . The nursing students shared their news on social media and in-person with other students . A featured story appeared in the University ’ s online weekly news , on the University Facebook page , and on the School of Nursing webpage . And finally , the SU-SNA leaders displayed with pride their Littmann stethoscopes received as part of the leadership grant . A raffle to gift five more stethoscopes to incoming student nurses
Raffle Stethoscope Kityo P heightened student awareness of the many positive outcomes of membership in both SU-SNA and NSNA .
At the time of the leadership grant award , SU-SNA ’ s student membership was 70 nursing students including both pre and current students . Approximately 25 % or 17 students were also NSNA members . Fall term 2023 following the summer Future of Nursing workshops , SU-SNA membership soared to 95 ( 36 % increase ) and NSNA members increased to 27 ( 58 % increase ). While many factors contributed to increased student nurse membership the high engagement and quality of SU-SNA leadership was a key factor .
Broader Impacts
Future plans are to offer several nurse career promotion programs to regional youth on an annual basis . With full support from Shepherd University School of Nursing , three “ The Future Of YOU : Be a NURSE ”
youth halfday workshops were offered Summer 2024 led by a new group of SU-SNA leaders and student nurses . The program is structured to be reproducible with subtle changes based upon the interest and leadership style of the student nurse leaders . With new SU- SNA leaders and new members every spring and fall term , there is an opportunity to engage new students on an ongoing basis . Thus , Shepherd University ’ s summer workshops will continue to promote interest in nursing careers to address the nursing shortage in years to come .
One possible future challenge may be budgetary constraints of the School of Nursing or University resources possibly necessitating a small participant registration fee of $ 5- $ 10 to cover expenses . With nurses in demand across the country , Shepherd University endeavors to remain a regional university of choice preparing youth for
36 NSNA Imprint