Nursing Academy Honors Program initiated
MUSC's College of Nursing and the Medical University Hospital Authority have created and implemented a Nursing Academy Honors Program. The academy is jointly funded by the college and the hospital and is designed to assist selected nursing students accelerate their clinical competence and leadership skills.Julia Ball, Ph.D., R.N., undergraduate programs director for the College of Nursing, and Irene Thomas, marketing manager for nursing at the Medical University Hospital Authority, are the administrators of the program.
Students
chosen for the inaugural Nursing Academy Honors Program for the first semester
baccalaureate are from left: Erin Barnes, Susan Conklin, Karen Fawcett,
Rebecca Hamilton, Jeffrey Murto, and Lisa Rasbach.
Six students have been chosen for the inaugural Nursing Academy Honors Program. The first semester baccalaureate students selected are: Erin Barnes, Susan Conklin, Karen Fawcett, Rebecca Hamilton, Jeffrey Murto, and Lisa Rasbach.
Nurse managers at the Medical University Hospital Authority reviewed student application packets, which included information about past academic performance, and an essay answering the question, “What do you expect to gain from the MUSC Nursing Academy Honors Program?” Students also provided two professional letters of recommendation, one of which was from a MUSC College of Nursing faculty member.
Erin Barnes, a student from Hilton Head Island, said she applied for the Nursing Academy Honors Program because it would give her a unique opportunity to gain practical knowledge and experience under the supervision of a registered nurse.
Barnes wrote in her essay for the program, “My best learning occurs when I can ask questions and receive immediate feedback from a professional during practical applications. Today in clinical I observed three surgeries, one of which was a coronary bypass. It was amazing to view the procedure but also to receive the education from the doctors and nurses in the operating room. What a humbling experience it was for me to realize just how much I need to learn and experience in order to develop a high level of confidence and competence in the field of nursing.”
To accomplish the goals of the program, Nursing Academy Honors Program students will be mentored by nurse managers for a maximum of 400 paid hours, then transitioned into a nurse extern role.
Nurse extern roles provide the nursing student with clinical experiences that allow the student to apply scientific principles of nursing and opportunities to develop their technical nursing skills.
“One advantage of the academy is that students will not be counted in the staffing mix of the hospital unit, so they will be guided by a preceptor who is in close consultation with the nurse manager and a College of Nursing faculty member,” Ball said. “The expected result is that academy students’ abilities will be greatly enhanced by the additional learning opportunities and supervised practice afforded by the program.
Nurse managers working with the Nursing Academy Honors Program are: Natalie Ankney, R.N., (Med/Surg ICU); Barbara Burke, R.N., (10 West); Mary Beth Crummer, R.N., (9 PCU/ACU); Kim Gadsden, R.N., (10 East); Ellen Ruja, R.N., (MUSC Emergency Services); and Yvonne Martin, R.N., (8 West).
“These students are our future,” Thomas said. “The Nursing Academy Honors
Program is an innovative way to recruit future nurses for our hospital.
The students enrolled in the MUSC College of Nursing are among the most
talented pool of future nurses.”
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