By Katie Schleiss
Nursing professor Susan Moscato was giving an alumni a tour of the nursing school's new, state-of-the-art resource lab.
The alumni noticed many changes to the nursing school, mainly the dramatic improvement in technology. The visiting alumni in fact remembered days using a cardboard box with three holes to learn how to install at catheter.
Now, sophisticated mannequins serve that purpose, replicating a real-life scene by returning fluid, talking and breathing.
New technology and interactive programs are just two ways UP's nursing school has changed over the years.
Now celebrating its 75th anniversary, the school is looking to "build on the excellence of the past," said Dean of nursing Joanne Warner. The theme is "difference makers."
The advances happening in the school mean nursing graduates will have greater skills to operate more efficiently in an ever-changing world. One example of this step forward is the upcoming electronic health record program students will be working with.
UP's nursing school was founded in 1934, making it the oldest in the state, according to professor Mary Beth Rosenstiel.
Fifteen years after its founding, the school became the first collegiate nursing program to be fully accredited by the League of Nursing Education.
The nursing school was grounded in the liberal arts environment, which emphasizes higher learning with a cultural and academic focus, said Rosenstiel.
Three years after its opening, 31 female students graduated from the nursing program.
"This was during a time when women weren't even expected to graduate from high school, so to instill the ideals of a liberal arts education was revolutionary for the time," Moscato said.
Moscato said that during World War II, the nursing program kept UP afloat. Seventy five students out of 109 in the graduating class in 1944 were nursing students, many of whom responded to war needs, said Moscato.
The nursing program added a Master of Science degree in 2004.
"Currently, we have 21 students, but the ultimate goal is 40 students," Rosenstiel said.
The doctor of nursing practice Degree (DNP) Ph.D. was created in 2008. The University used to have a Ph.D. program many years ago in other majors, according to Rosenstiel, but never in nursing.
Warner said that the expansion means graduates have the highest level of preparation for practice.
"The program is always innovating and changing," Warner said. Warner said enrollments are up, a response to a nationwide nursing shortage.
School officials said UP graduated 55 nursing students in 1996 and 13 years later that number has quadrupled.
"The nursing program has grown in stature in relationship to its leadership and innovation," Moscato said.
About 97 percent of students pass the NCLEX, the state board test, which Moscato said "is a very high pass rate."
Moscato praised UP's clinical teaching models, which pairs students with staff nurses. She noted that schools from around the world have contacted UP to learn more about the setup.
Junior Sarah Kavanagh said that she came to UP because she could earn a complete degree instead of the five years at other schools.
For junior Nicole Holguin, the school's reputation influenced her decision. "I came here because I worked with a clinical instructor that kept telling me "you're going to UP, right?" said Holguin.
The nursing program partners with the Portland VA Medical Center and the Providence Health & Services, sending students to work in clinics in both locations.
Moscato said that other innovative programs have won awards, such as the client-partner project.
In this project, junior nursing students are paired with elderly people who volunteer to work with the students. The purpose is to establish the first nurse-patient relationship for the students and to learn about elders.
"One point is medication, how do elderly citizens pay for their medication, what ones do they use, how do they open the bottles?" Moscato said. "The elderly citizens also offer a spiritual guidance to the students."
The school of nursing also won the award for best school in 2008 from the American Assembly of Men in Nursing.
The anniversary is being celebrated in a number of ways. Pictures of the nursing program over the years will be featured on a DVD disk that will be shown at the Feast of Saint Vincent Celebration on July 19.
Every year the Sisters of Providence, who all graduated from UP's nursing school, gather for the celebration.
Rosenstiel also said that there are plans to celebrate this anniversary by creating a Web page dedicated to the nursing school.
She hopes that this will help the University connect with graduates who have made a difference in the field of nursing.
"The world needs UP nurses because the world needs kind, bright, ethically grounded, and compassionate nurses grounded in spiritual nursing care and strong clinical reasoning," Warner said.
