GAMECOCK
The CONnection News and Views from the University of South Carolina COLLEGE OF NURSING
SEPTEMBER 2015
Carolina Nursing Students are the BEST!
Dean Jeannette Andrews
Inside This Issue Students Corner..............2-3 Alumni & Development...4-5 Faculty & Staff Notes.....6-8 NO LIMITS........................9
Send Inquiries or Newsletter items to: Jan Johnson jnjohnso@mailbox.sc.edu
As Dean, one of the highlights of my role is my interactions with students and observing their transformations while in our program. My first encounters are often meeting a potential nursing student still in high-school visiting the campus with their parents. I am repeatedly told that after touring our campus, our simulation lab, and meeting our faculty and staff, the decision has been made--“Carolina” all the way. Before long, we are immersed in move-in day, Freshman Tea, and then a heavy schedule with science courses, campus life, Student Nurses Association, Chi Eta Phi, Men in Nursing Club, and other extra-curricular activities. The freshmen representatives (in close competition with the Juniors) on my Dean’s Advisory Council are often the most wide-eyed, energetic, and inquisitive. In the first few weeks of Fall semester, the fresh “new” red scrubs and smiling faces of the junior students dot all around the College and campus full of anticipation to enter their first clinical experiences. With their immersions in clinical practice, research/ scholarly activities, and community engagement work, our students begin to discover their own authentic voice as a future nurse leader. By the time our student’s reach “Senior” status, and finally graduation, one can easily see the confidence, competence, and professionalism of a Carolina nurse. It is so exciting to see our BSN alumni return home for graduate school. Perhaps a little more wise and experienced from their early career, they carry a different level of spark and inquisitiveness to improve healthcare delivery to their patients. Our graduate students are not only alumni from our program, but from nursing schools all over the US. Our graduate students “elevate the bar” with innovations in practice and discovery, and challenge all of us to lead in this dramatic change in health care before us. Their compassion, commitment, and desire to impact the nursing profession and patient care are quite infectious and inspiring. Yes, I may be biased, but I believe we have the best nursing students in the country. The faculty, staff, alumni, and all of our stakeholders are behind you and your success. You are the future and we look forward to our collective journey. You make us proud! Jeannette O. Andrews PhD, RN, FAAN Dean & Professor j.andrews@sc.edu
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