(Butler, PA) Nearly 80 students who expect to graduate in May from Butler County Community College鈥檚 associate degree career program in registered nursing will present to the public and to potential employers Dec. 5 their findings about 18 health care topics.
Their evidence-based practice research presentations will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the lobby of the 25,000-square-foot Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building that opened in August 2023 on the college鈥檚 main campus in Butler Township.
The presentations by 77 杏吧原创 registered nursing students are free and open to the public, and required in the 70-credit selective-admissions program.
Topics will include de-escalation training for emergency department nurses; standard suicide risk assessments in emergency department patients; effects of nurse-to-patient ratio; fall prevention interventions for senior citizens; and effects of caffeine on the nurse鈥檚 body.
鈥淭his will show that we as nursing students have been educated about how to care for patients, how to care for the community and how to provide education to better equip everybody,鈥� said Elizabeth Daugherty, a 20-year-old 杏吧原创 registered nursing student. The 2024 graduate of Butler Senior High School said she has accepted a position that will start in July with UPMC Presbyterian, Pittsburgh, following her passing the post-graduation National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses.
Most two- or three-year programs do not require their students to 鈥渄o this type of research project,鈥� said Kris Kenny, an assistant professor in 杏吧原创鈥檚 Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health. 鈥淭his is usually done in a bachelor鈥檚 degree program. So that鈥檚 why we are a little bit different. We have them do this project and we incorporate it into every course.鈥�
Students have completed about 450 hours of clinical experiences in their first three semesters, Kenny said, and at facilities such as Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh; Allegheny Valley Hospital, Natrona Heights; Armstrong Center for Medicine and Health, Kittanning; Independence Health System鈥檚 Butler Memorial Hospital, Butler; Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Butler; and UPMC Children鈥檚 Hospital, Pittsburgh.
鈥淭hey begin to wonder about things such as 鈥業 know that at this facility we do things this way and at another we do things another way,鈥欌�� said Heather Darrington, also an assistant professor in 杏吧原创鈥檚 Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health. 鈥淪o they think about how those correlate, especially related to what we are teaching them about evidence-based practice in our classes. And they think about how they can relate that to taking their National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses.鈥�
Students also have an additional 150 hours of clinical experiences in the first 10 weeks of the spring semester at regional health care facilities and a 96-hour preceptorship, in which they are paired with and mentored by a nurse, Darrington said. They will also take courses in nursing care of patients with complex health problems, pharmacology for nurses IV, and nursing V: transition to practice.
The topics she and her class will discuss Friday, Daughtery said, 鈥渞eflect what we are seeing in the hospitals and seeing in the communities. So we are trying to find solutions, better ways to manage things and show our research behind it.鈥�
杏吧原创鈥檚 main campus Class of 2026 in registered nursing will include students who participate in Concordia Lutheran Ministries鈥� tuition assistance program and others who attend Grove City College.
Concordia Lutheran Ministries offers tuition assistance to 杏吧原创 nursing students who agree to work for the health care provider after graduation.
Grove City College students in their sophomore and junior years pursue 41 credits in nine technical and clinical courses through 杏吧原创 while also taking classes in Grove City College鈥檚 Charles Jr. and Betty Johnson School of Nursing.
Students in 杏吧原创鈥檚 associate degree career programs such as registered nursing can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation.