Campus Connection

Media Credit: Jae Kim Participants in the 2nd Annual Friends and Family Day at the School of Nursing.

On October 20, 2007, the School of Nursing (SON) held its 2nd annual Friends and Family day.  According to Dr. Davenport, a professor at the school of nursing, the purpose of the event was to “welcome the family and friends of the nursing students to the campus and give them a flavor of what the student did with their time as a student nurse.” She said that the Nursing Student Government Association was the force behind the implementation of the event.

Before Spring 2007, the event had not been organized in many years. With the success it experienced last year Dean Allan supported the idea of making it a yearly event. The day started off at 8.30 am with various activities and refreshments and a welcoming address from the dean of the School of Nursing. Allan spoke and enlightened guests of the school’s goals, plans, programs and research innovations. The day progressed with mock nursing class and pop quiz from Davenport which was done in order to give the guests a taste of classes at the nursing school. There was also an opportunity for the guests to listen to the experiences of the students and ask questions from the students in the various types of nursing programs. The day ended at 12.30 pm with twenty minute guided tours of the clinical simulation labs, the nursing museum, well mobile, standardized patient laboratories and the bench research laboratories of the school.

Natalie Hopkins, a third semester nursing student, said that family and friends day showed a wonderful presentation of our school and what we're all about. She stated that that it really gave her parents an understanding of how much time and work nursing school requires. The dean gave a presentation on the mission of the school and its funding issues. Davenport spoke about what calls different people to become nurses and told personal stories about how nurses have touched people’s lives. She mentioned that one of the best representatives of the commitment, time, and energy it takes to be a student nurse was the panel of students. They spoke about a typical day on campus and the workload required of school. They also shared personal stories of interactions with patients and how all of the hard work pays off in the end. Overall she thought the day was very helpful and informative for her family.  It was relaxed and enjoyable while giving a professional impression of our campus and mission as future nurses. The purpose of the event was to give family and friends a different perspective and understanding of what nursing students do, and it seemed to have achieved its goal.

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