Pictured above – Kim Hanna, dean of Tennessee Tech’s Whitson-Hester School of Nursing speaks to visiting students from Livingston Academy as part of the school’s “Feature Friday” series.
Event series originated from a health care fair hosted by the school’s chapter of Sigma Theta Tau
Tennessee Tech University’s Whitson-Hester School of Nursing recently concluded its “Feature Friday” series for the fall 2024 semester, which hosted more than 100 local high school students with an interest in health care. Over the semester, the school welcomed students from DeKalb, Overton, Putnam, Smith, Warren and White counties for half-day visits.
On each occasion, students spent time in the school’s simulation lab, where they received hands-on experience in skills like giving chest compressions and inserting nasogastric tubes into manikins. Students then heard a welcome message from Kim Hanna, dean of the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing, followed by a presentation and Q&A session with other School of Nursing faculty and representatives from the school’s dedicated Student Success Center.
The students ended each visit by meeting with representatives from the university’s Office of Admissions and enjoying a free lunch and presentation from area employer sponsors, such as Ascension Saint Thomas River Park, Cookeville Regional Medical Center, Highpoint Health – Riverview and Livingston Regional Hospital.
The idea for the event series originated from a health care fair hosted by the school’s chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, an international honor society for nursing. The event brought together nursing faculty and staff, area employers and high school students. Its success led School of Nursing leaders to look at ways to build off that format to engage high school students throughout the year.
“We got to thinking, why couldn’t we replicate that on a smaller, more intimate basis where these students are given not just a lab tour, but hands-on time in the simulation lab to learn skills and see all that we have to offer?” said Charla McPeake, clinical placement coordinator for the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing.
Benjamin Clark, academic adviser for the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing’s Student Success Center, added that the visits help fill a void created by the cancellation of some hospital volunteer and student shadowing programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At the freshman level, we were seeing that students hadn’t had opportunities to see an actual health care setting,” said Clark. “They were hearing about things, but they weren’t actually getting to experience anything hands-on.”
The faculty and staff speaker presentations during the visits also allow the university to explain some of its distinctives. For example, Tech’s Whitson-Hester School of Nursing has maintained a near-perfect 97% average first-time pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) over the last five years and 100% of the school’s graduates are employed within a year of graduation.
Still, McPeake emphasizes that the visits are not about bragging on the School of Nursing’s accomplishments, but rather building personal connections with prospective students, showcasing the value of the nursing profession and demonstrating Tech’s “students first” ethos.
McPeake and Clark add that the involvement of health care employer partners helps local students realize that, not only can they earn their degree close to home through Tech, but they can also typically find immediate employment in their field right here in the Upper Cumberland, too.
“We really want to show them the trajectory and say, ‘if you come here, all of these things are open to you,’” said McPeake. “And there’s not a wrong way of doing it. You can take your Tennessee Tech nursing degree and work anywhere. We have alumni all over, but we do like to say that if staying here and serving your community is something of interest, our local employer partners love to hire Tech grads.”
Following each event, students were invited to complete anonymous surveys on their experiences. The results showed a marked increase in the number of students signaling interest in the nursing profession and in attending Tech.
The Whitson-Hester School of Nursing enrolls more than 800 students as of fall 2024, making it one of the top five largest colleges and schools on Tech’s campus.
Learn more at www.tntech.edu/nursing.
Photo courtesy of Tech.
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