LSNA
Luther Student Nurses Association
February 2013
Volume 1
Issue 4
Advancing Luther’s Nursing Program: Simulations
Did you know completing a head-to-toe assessment, participating in a resuscitation (code),
communicating with a psychiatric patient, interacting with a pediatric patient and family, or administering
IV antibiotics can be practiced before entering the clinical setting? Luther College Nursing Department
has been making changes to their program and one of these changes is increasing simulations for all levels
of nursing students.
Jessica Raabe has taken over for Kristin Propson as Lab and Simulation Director. Raabe has had previous
experience with simulations. After graduating with a BSN from the University of Iowa, Raabe worked as
an Emergency Room nurse in Atlanta, GA and studied at Emory University for her graduate degree. Five
years ago she moved back to Iowa where she was active in simulation and lab
experiences as well as a clinical instructor and pharmacology professor at the
U of Iowa. Before coming to Luther, Raabe spent a year at Kirkwood
Community College where she increased the use of simulation within their
curriculum while also teaching a critical care course and overseeing the final
semester students’ preceptorship. Raabe enjoys molding clinical experiences
with theory from lecture and as a previous nurse preceptor; she wants to help
students overcome false confidences before they enter the professional field.
Simulations are not always individualized rather they involve working
as a team, helping each other learn because as Raabe knows, our experiences
are not the same. Someone knows something or has had previous experience that another does not but by
talking through the simulation (either as an active participant or an observer) each student can gain so
much. Her goal for the simulations are not only to increase confidence but for new nurses to have
competence to analyze and deduct from previous experiences, to feel comfortable and know who to ask
questions, and to work as a team.
Simulations will be encompassed in all semesters of the nursing program relating to what is being
leaned in lecture. They will include anything from neurology and burn scenarios, pediatric and psychiatric
patients, blood and IV administrations, codes and GI bleeds, patient education and head-to-toe
assessments. As participation in simulations increases one will notice that simulations build on each other
to learn new skills and strengthen the confidence in skills you already have.
Health News #1: Asthma*
Health News #2: Assisted Suicide*
Asthma is known to be triggered by many
environmental causes but new technology
developed by an epidemiologist can pinpoint
and maybe even find a link between location,
environment, and an individual’s asthma. A
rescue inhaler with GPS sensor capabilities will help
individualize treatment and prevention according to an
article in the Washington Post.
Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Kansas, Hawaii,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York,
Arizona, and Montana governments may be making
decisions on bills related to assisted suicide. ABC
News mentions that legalizing physician-assisted
suicide has become a topic for groups in these
states that a making a push to have bills legalizing
this practice.
* References supplied upon request—email [email protected]
Ah Ha Moments
Have you ever had a patient or a time in your life when
you realized this is why I love what I am doing? Please
share! We would love to hear your stories, whether
short or long, they have all touched us in special ways.
Email them to [email protected]. We can include your
name or keep them anonymous.
There’s that moment when everything is going right. You are
eating cake, laughing over a funny story, and spending time
with those you love when suddenly everything changes. You
see your mother and grandmother running (well, mother
running and grandmother trying to keep up) toward you
calling your name in a way that is attempting to be quiet
and inconspicuous but out of your peripherals you see
everyone around you watching. The laughter that was
coming from your lips moments earlier is gone. In its place
is a dry fear and training is kicking in because first of all
your mother prefers to walk, you have never seen your
grandmother run in your life, and the look on their faces
and tone of their voices calling your name is not the joyful
banter you had earlier that day. When they reach you and
tell you to come with but do not share the reason you can
feel adrenaline kicking in. Realizing that their concern is
about a family member who is ‘feeling funny,’ has all the
signs and symptoms of having a stroke and you can see
their status declining in front of your eyes. Considering you
are only a student nurse yet are the only medical trained
individual present makes you the one in charge, trusted in
making decisions, leader in gathering an assessment, and
the liaison between EMS and hospital staff to the rest of the
family.
Such an instant allows you to see the education you have
received, the valuable teachers in your life who allowed you
to react in the way you did, and the trust that is placed in
you regardless of the title behind your name. Anyone can be
‘just a nurse’ but it takes a special group of people to be in
the art
of nursing. Congratulations to all of you who are
considering, recently admitted, pursuing, or will
be graduating from a program that
teaches you to become more than just a
nurse or nursing student.
- Anonymous Luther Student
A Look Ahead
February 19: Volunteer Activity at Wellington Place—
Nail Painting: 3:00pm
April 3-7: NSNA Conference—Charlotte, NC
**Watch website and email for next meeting information
Volunteer Opportunity
When: Tuesday, February 19
Where: Wellington Nursing Home
Time: 3:00pm—?
Entails: Painting residents’ nails
and providing a social opportunity
for these individuals
*Email Sarah at [email protected] if
not already signed up. Vehicles are
leaving at 2:45 from Library Lot.
National Student Nursing
Association Conference
When: April 3-7
Where: Charlotte, NC
For: Any Luther Nursing
Students Interested
Cost: $110 (NSNA Members)
$170 (Non-NSNA Members)
(These prices are not definite—
grants, funding, and LSNA
contributions may be possible)
If interested or for more
information talk to Ruth in the
Nursing Department or email
LSNA at [email protected]
expressing your desire.
NCLEX Status
(December Grads):
Breanna Friedrich: Passed
NCLEX
Kelly Huffman: Passed NCLEX,
Will Hagan: Passed NCLEX
Hannah Schleusner: Passed
NCLEX
Congratulations
Angela Kueny & Family!!
We are all excited to welcome
another baby in July into
Luther’s Nursing family.
Check out LSNA online:
www.luther.edu/lsna
Contact LSNA at:
[email protected]