LIFELINE NEWSLETTER STUDENT NURSES ASSOCIATION UCF ORLANDO OCTOBER 2013 BY INGRID COLE FUTURE NURSES TEACH FUTURE PHYSICIANS

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1 LIFELINE NEWSLETTER STUDENT NURSES ASSOCIATION UCF ORLANDO OCTOBER 2013 Katie Wach joined senior nursing students Geraldine Martinez, John O Leary and Kacey Burton at UCF s College of Medicine on October 11th. Our CON students lead a handson phlebotomy workshop. Geraldine expressed gratitude for the offer to reach out to UCF s College of Medicine. When I got the invitation, I felt very privileged and very honored that our future physicians want to learn from their future nurses, she said. FUTURE NURSES TEACH FUTURE PHYSICIANS BY INGRID COLE If you asked me what I did last Friday after clinical I would tell you that I taught some of our future doctors. A few of my classmates and myself went to the UCF College of Medicine to help teach the 1st and 2nd year students how to draw blood. It was an AMAZING experience, said senior nursing student Katie Wach. Phlebotomy is a skill that is often performed by phlebotomists and nurses. However, situations may arise where the physician may be the only professional who is present to start an IV. Therefore, it is important that physicians have the necessary skills to locate a vein and correctly insert an IV. UCF s College of Medicine has a collection of anatomically correct arms and hands in order to practice the skill of phlebotomy. Under the watchful eye of our CON students, the medical students were able to safely develop their phlebotomy skills through the process of trial and error. This workshop gave the nursing students more than an opportunity to develop leadership, and the medical students more than learning how to insert IVs or draw blood. This workshop focused on interprofessional education and team building. Once we get into the hospital, we are a team. Geraldine Martinez summarized this notion best when she said The relationship can start now. It doesn t have to (start) at bedside once we have graduated. Why not start it from the beginning and grow together?

2 PUT YOUR BEST FACE(BOOK) FORWARD By Ingrid Cole, Newsletter Editor and Webmaster Ooh girl you will not believe what XXXX posted on her Facebook! Every one of us has viewed a picture or read a post that we cannot unread or unsee. When we type our frustrations, joys, wishes, or thoughts into that tiny little rectangle and hit post it s out there for everyone to read. Everyone. You know your grandparents are on Facebook, and hopefully they aren t too disappointed. Also, you can never go wrong with posting cute pictures of puppies, kitties, and children. Everyone loves a hang in there, kitty pic and a good kid s say the cutest stuff quote. Facebook is a great tool if used wisely. Facebook keeps us in touch with family and friends who we don t get to see often. Facebook is a wonderful place to stay connected with your classmates (study guides, reminders, depository for important forms that NO ONE can find). Facebook is also a tool that our future employers will utilize to make judgments about our character. Employers will scrutinize your photos. They want to know if you party a lot, if you exhibit inappropriate social behavior, and if you lack judgment and insight. Here s an example I learned of at a recent FNA conference. A student nurse (by no means one of our CON students) had a game on her Facebook account where she would post pictures of patients and ask friends to vote sleeping or dead. Seriously. Someone actually did that. Make sure your online persona is representative of your positive attributes; not how many keg stands you did last week. Be aware of posting pictures of yourself holding an alcoholic beverage. Your future employer doesn t know if you had one drink on one night or if you are a binge drinker. Don t give them the opportunity to guess! Hide your drink behind your back when your friend pulls out her iphone. Also, try to keep your political ramblings to yourself (this works well in real life too). You wouldn t want to offend the person who determines if you get an interview, would you? Remember when I said Facebook was a tool? Use it to your advantage. If you think of your Facebook as a collage containing your best attributes, successes, and achievements your future employer will too. YOU RE HIRED! This is a great photo for Facebook! However, one suggestion would be to take your badge off so that your place of employment cannot be identified. Nevertheless, I m sure this hospital system is proud of their student nurses and their mouse nurses!

3 Ask Ingrid* *Just Kidding. This is unsolicited advice By Ingrid Cole, Newsletter Editor I fully anticipated earning straight A s in nursing school. Why wouldn t I? I blew away the competition while I was completing my prereqs. My A&P/Micro professor claimed I was in the top five of students he ever taught (no big deal). And I m a super smarty-pants! A Code Brown hit the fan during that first week of class. It got real- really fast. By this time in your nursing school career, you probably feel like getting A s in every class is as illusive as watching a sasquatch sew a blanket. Sure, you ve heard of seamstress sasquatches, but you haven t seen one yet. Good news, friends. After extensive research, trial and error, more error, lots of crying, and talking with multiple professors, I ve compiled a tiny list of suggestions that may help you improve your exam grades and overall GPA. To be fair, most of these suggestions came from my dear friend, Hector Cintron. Hector has lead two tutoring sessions in which he instructed groups of nursing students in more efficient ways to study. He will host three more classes on October 29 th , November 12 th , and November 26 th I highly recommend you make time to attend a session. Here is a condensed list of my favorite tips. Be prepared before class. You should be familiar with the material before you hear the lecture, but DON T try to read every chapter! Instead of wasting precious hours of your life (of which you ll never get back), look at charts, graphs, tables, and the PowerPoint if available. If you understand the objectives at the beginning of the chapters, and you can answer the questions at the end of the chapters, you are ready for the lecture. Set up your study zone. No studying in bed, kitchens, bathrooms, ball pits at fast food restaurants, or places where socialization Study Time If you don t have two laptops, enough sugary snacks to put you into a state of HHS, and a textbook big enough to break your foot if you drop it you re doing it right. I think... happens. Set up your space before you sit down to study. Setting up does not count as study time, by the way. Try to incorporate natural sunlight as well. Review the lecture material during breaks and after class. This is crucial. Guess what? It turns out that our memory is terrible and will dump everything as soon as we leave to get a smoothie. Hack your memory by going over your notes! You aren t stupid or incompetent! The only thing that separates you from the students who are getting better results on their exams is your study habits. This hit me like a med-surg book the day after I attended Hector s class. Your exams do not get to dictate how intelligent or capable you are as a person. You do. Your thoughts become your actions, so be mindful of them. KIP keep it positive. This is only a glimpse of what will be discussed in Hector s tutoring sessions. Show up to one of the final tutoring sessions if you are interested in working with your memory instead of against it.

4 SNA CLUBHOUSE NEWS New Hours for Fall 2013 Monday: 10:30a-11:00a, 11:30a-12:30p, 1:00p-1:45p Wednesday: 9:30a-9:50a, 11:30a-12:30p SNA Clubhouse is closed during holidays and upon cancelation of classes. The SNA Clubhouse is located on the 3rd floor at CON. We stock chips, water, and soda at a lower cost than vending machines. You can pick up clinical supplies, badge clips, shirts, sweat shirts and more. Volunteers receive a discount of 10% off merchandise. Contact Diana Antolinez with any questions or concerns. QUOTE OF THE MONTH Nursing encompasses an art, a humanistic orientation, a feeling for the value of the individual, and an intuitive sense of ethics, and of the appropriateness of action taken. Myrtle Aydelotte Upcoming Events FNSA State Convention! October for SNA Board Members and Delegates October 25th is the big day! Making Strides 5K on October 19th

5 Nursing Spotlight Nurse Educator. By Hector Abdiel Ortiz Cintron, Breakthrough to Nursing Committee Becoming a nurse educator requires specialized knowledge and preparation that is critical for the practice, and can take many different career tracks. That means someone who can handle academic challenges at the master s level and beyond, and is interested in in-depth research relating to the nursing profession. Nurse educators are always learning. They are always continuing their professional growth and educating those interested in nursing. Nursing students wishing to pursue a teaching career may prefer a fast-track program, including a BSN to doctorate degree track. All individuals pursuing the educator role should complete coursework in teaching strategies (pedagogy), curriculum design and student assessment. These courses may be taken as elective or in addiction to clinically focused, graduate course work. A career as a nurse educator offers a variety of opportunities. Nurse educators work in academic settings as teachers, advisors, researchers, and administrators. They also work in clinical health care settings as preceptors, clinical instructors, orientation leaders, staff development specialists and patient educators. Nurses looking to teach at the college level must have a graduate nursing degree. At a minimum, a master s degree is required, but a doctorate degree is preferred at many institutions. Nurse educators can choose to teach in a specialized field of their choosing. Most schools will only hire a nurse to teach a class if they have had experience in that area. This is so the students can have a better understanding of the subject For more information about Nurse Educators please visit: OR Contact Melanie Harris to obtain a brochure on perioperative nursing. Melanie.harris@knights.ucf.edu OR ask one of our many talented professors for advice!

6 How to Earn SNA Points Event Points General Meeting Community Service Breakthrough to Nursing Fundraiser Clubhouse Shift State Convention National Convention 1 point each meeting 1 point per hour (4 max) 1 point per hour (4 max) 2 points 1 point 5 points 10 points Earn 2 SNA Points for submitting content to our website or newsletter! SIGN UP FOR SNA Visit SNA s Clubhouse and request an application. Provide complete application to any SNA Board member along with SNA dues. September s Top Earners JOIN US ON FACEBOOK Search Student Nurses Association Orlando Upon Graduating, the Top Earner of each class will receive SNA cords free! Juniors: Jeanna Berman, Kate Williams, Allison Brady Seniors: Ivana Martinez, Christie Miranda, Hannah Zinman Accels: Seeta Nath, Sethi Nidhi, Ana- Christina Torres

7 Contact Info for SNA Board President Libby Gersbach Vice President Geraldine Martinez Secretary Alexis Bosque Treasurer Iris Appenrodt SNA Clubhouse Diana Antolinez Breakthrough to Nursing Melanie Harris Community Health Chairperson Sarah Thomas Legislative Director John O Leary johnthenondenom@knights.ucf.edu Historian Brianne Macko brianne_macko@knights.ucf.edu Newsletter/Website Ingrid Cole ingridcole@knights.ucf.edu Accel Liaison Diana Antolinez dantolinez@knights.ucf.edu Accel Liaison Laura Baran baronl@knights.ucf.edu Advisor Dr. Howe linda.howe@ucf.edu Advisor Ms. Dever kimberly.dever@ucf.edu