Nursing seniors to graduate

Students excited to move on and practice the art of nursing will graduate on May 16.

There are two separate ceremonies recognizing graduating seniors.  At 3:30 p.m. commencement will take place in Lee Arena in the Petro Allied Health Center.  The ceremony is combined with the School of Business, and both undergraduate and master's candidates will be recognized.  

At 5:30 the School of Nursing will have a special pinning ceremony recognizing only graduating nursing students at White Concert Hall.

"It's a rite of passage to get your nursing pin.  It's a visual verification you have completed your nursing requirements," said Mary Allen, director of student academic support services for The School of Nursing.

Years back, students chose to wear white caps and gowns during commencement.  Every year since then students have had a choice between white and black.

"Students wanted to have white robes, they vote on either black or white and most choose white," Allen said.

Both events are open to the public.  For more information call 670-1310 or jennifer.bixel@washburn.edu

SNOW organization helps future nurses give back

On Monday, some philanthropic future nurses were offering anyone walking through Petro Allied Health Center a root beer float.

The fundraiser benefited the Marian Clinic, and was held by Student Nurses of Washburn organization. The proceeds will help the clinic cover the cost of diabetic supplies.

"Essentially what we said was we were fundraising donations and giving out the root beer floats," said Breanna Chamoff, the president of the organization and a senior in the School of Nursing.

SNOW's mission is to help nursing students get involved in the community and to provide information about nursing.

"We try to get our student body involved in the nursing community by bringing in outside speakers, we have had students come talk about the WTE [Washburn transformational experience] so the students know what that entails and how they can get involved in the WTE and nursing," Chamoff said. "We’ve had students come and talk about the study abroad experiences they have."

The organization meets once a month, and considers everyone enrolled in the School of Nursing to be a member, however, in order to vote in organizational elections, they must be registered in advance.

Chamoff encourages pre-nursing students to attend the meetings and to start getting involved.

"I think it’s important for students to be involved in any organization they’re apart of so they have a voice, SNOW s a good organization because it gives students a network for outreach into the community, Chamoff said. "We try to give them connections to local hospitals and people they might need to know in their careers and prove to be beneficial to them, and more then that it’s important to give back to their community."

The next organizational meeting will actually be a potluck picnic held at Lake Shawnee on Thursday, May 7.

"It’s open to all nursing students and pre-nursing student in lieu of the monthly SNOW meeting," Chamoff said.

Nursing Student to Present Poster Projects

Nursing students enrolled in the Leadership in Nursing class will present their semester long projects on Wednesday, May 6 at the Bradbury-Thompson Center.

"The projects showcase what they have made better or easier in the field of medicine," said Sue Modig, the School of Nursing receptionist.

The class, taught by Sue Unruh, is made up of about 70 students and 12 groups will present. Each group chose one way to benefit the healthcare community, and the choices vary each semester.

"One group did a waiting room in the hospital, they painted, fixed it up and made it more kid-friendly," Modig said.

Loretta Winkel, a senior in the School of Nursing took the class last semester. Her group made up an acronym to help kids stay germ-free in school. The acronym was "SNACK," which stood for "Sneeze in a tissue, Not on a friend, Always wash your hands, Cough in your elbow, Keep your drinks to yourself."

Her and her group presented their project at a school inservice so teachers could then use it in their classrooms.

"It was neat to see the teaching tool we designed implemented in the school system," Winkel said. "They were all different colors and were easy for children to read."
The presentations last about 20 minutes each, with all the group members taking turns speaking.

The presentations will start at 12:30.