Last week was National Nursing Week. The committed NCC nursing faculty, staff, and students had a lot to celebrate while reflecting on the past year’s academic excellence, professional achievements, and community service.

Marian Doyle and Kathy Dolin completed their adjunct faculty book club discussion series with a tropical flair. While themes have been an important element of this experience, participants agreed the goal of enhancing the education of nursing students in the clinical setting had been met. Doyle and Dolin had the opportunity to showcase their model program and share lessons learned with colleagues around the world when they were selected to present at the League of Innovations National Conference in Atlanta, GA.

Judy Williams, associate professor, has been preparing for the expansion of the Monroe campus and is surveying practical nurses in the surrounding areas to determine what programming will best meet their ongoing educational needs. Monica Diaz, professional lab assistant has been heading the charge of engaging faculty in the design and implementation of clinical simulation in the nursing lab using the newly purchased simulator mannequin.

Assistant Professor Sharon McGraw capitalized on service learning opportunities at Springfest and coordinated the “Health Fair Tent” staffed by her very well prepared senior nursing students. The Nursing Student Organization, under the leadership of co-presidents Barbara Labriola, Paul Hlavinka, and faculty advisors Stacy Moyer and Mali Bartges coordinated three booths at Springfest including an Alex’s Lemonade Stand to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

Graduating student Sylvia C. Marohn and her mentor, Assistant Professor Mali Bartges were recently notified that the case study Marohn wrote for one of her final nursing courses was accepted for presentation at the 2006 Beacon Conference. Mary Jean Osborne, director of the nursing program, was impressed with their commitment to excellence.

“To put the energy into a project of this size would be a challenge at any time but in the face of a very demanding program and at a time when Sylvia is about to graduate, it was quite impressive.” said Osborne. “We should all be comforted that our health care needs will be met by students like this.”

Fabiola Espinal, instructor, had the honor of participating in the first annual national conference of the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE). Workshops, plenary, and concurrent sessions focused around the conference theme, “Designing the future-Disenando el Futuro: Hispanic Higher Education for the 21st Century."

Stacy Moyer, Instructor, participated as an item writer for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) creating multiple choice questions for the national nursing licensing exam.