RWS 305W: Letter to a Prospective Student English Journal

1 Professor M. Copeland RWS 305W 05/23/2018 Project 1: Letter to a Prospective Student Congratulations on your acceptance to San Diego State University (SDSU)! As one of a select group of talented individuals, you are currently in the advantageous position of being able to choose from one of the many majors offered here at SDSU. This letter contains helpful information regarding one of SDSU’s most reputable programs: The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Those who have what it takes to tackle the challenges involved with choosing this major are rewarded with a dynamic curriculum, state of the art facilities, and highly experienced faculty. Graduates from the School of Nursing (SON) go on to join the ranks of the number one most trusted profession with excellent employment prospects (ANA Enterprise, 2016). If you are a highly motivated individual looking for a major which combines scientific reasoning, hands on skills, and allows you to give back to the community, then you may be suited to the nursing program. Today’s average college level student is plagued with the stressors of increasing living costs, exams, and the imminent threat of competing for an entry level position after graduation (among many others). While the work involved in succeeding in the nursing major is certainly challenging, nursing students are able to enjoy the peace of mind that comes with promising prospects of employment available to those with a BSN. With a current emphasis on preventative healthcare, an aging population, and an increase in chronic conditions nationwide, the demand for registered nurses with a BSN is increasing drastically. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018), the number of jobs for registered nurses with a BSN was 2,955,200 in 2 2016, with this number projected to increase 15% by the year 2026 (almost twice the percentage increase for all other occupations). As well as the availability of jobs for our major, we also enjoy the comfort of knowing that our profession comes with a certain level of financial security. BSNedu.org stated in 2018 that registered nurses with a BSN in California are among the highest paid in the nation, with earners in the 90th percentile reported to earn $141, 030 annually. While financial and job security should not be the sole reason to pursue any major, these factors certainly come into play when planning for success. One of the many alluring aspects of our BSN program is the state of the art lab facilities that students have access to. These facilities include a nursing fundamentals skills lab, a health assessment lab, and the Sharp Healthcare human patient simulation center (HPSC). Of these facilities, my most memorable experiences so far have come from my time in the HPSC. This resource became available to nursing students in 2006 with the help of a $1M grant from Sharp Healthcare (Sharp Healthcare human simulation center, 2018). It is a state of the art facility which offers a seven bed simulated hospital where students can apply their skills to scenarios ranging from basic patient assessment, to critical conditions such as septic shock. The patient simulators (of which there are six including pediatric and baby models) are incredibly reminiscent of a real live patient that a student might encounter in a clinical setting (Sharp Healthcare human simulation center, 2018). RWS 305W: Letter to a Prospective Student English Journal

They have the ability to perfectly mimic the sound of trapped fluid in the alveolar sacs of the lungs upon inspiration, or an abnormal heart rhythm indicative of a malfunctioning valve. The facility even offers a birthing simulation experience for students completing their maternal and infant semester (Sharp Healthcare human simulation center, 2018). One of my favorite aspects of the HPSC is that it is right here on the SDSU campus nestled among a row of lecture halls. While your peers are stepping into another stock 3 standard room lined with chairs facing a projector, the nursing students next door are already in uniform, putting their learned skills into practice in their own private hospital simulation center. Even more valuable than the SON’s facilities are the program’s esteemed faculty. What I have found to be the most beneficial to my learning experience is the multidisciplinary backgrounds of the instructors. The professors within the nursing major are unique in that they did not simply transition from academia to teaching as is the case with many other fields of study. Instead, they have extensive backgrounds working in the hospital setting, some of whom hold current positions as advanced practice nurses here in San Diego. Dr. Hadley, an associate professor in primary care and health assessment, is just one example of the high caliber of faculty that nursing majors have access to. She has been teaching with SDSU for over twenty years; however, she also has a curriculum vitae rich in professional experience both preceding, and during this time period. This includes active military duty as a critical care nurse, advanced nurse practitioner in women’s health, and her current position as an adult-geriatric nurse practitioner for the San Diego Veterans Affairs Hospital (Faculty, 2018). The various experiences of the faculty not only make for some interesting stories to break up the lectures; they also give students a connection to potential employers. Many of the instructors are on familiar terms with hospital personnel which means that a letter of recommendation from your clinical instructor (students begin to collect these as early as sophomore year) hold much more weight than that of a professor who has had minimal experience outside of the academic arena. Based on my personal experience with the BSN program at San Diego State University, the best resource we are offered here by far is an introduction, and continuing connection with local hospitals in conjunction with our major required courses. A unique aspect of the BSN curriculum is an early immersion into the professional setting. Once prerequisites have been 4 completed, the commencement of major required classes (as early as sophomore year) marks the beginning of a student’s clinical placement rotations. Students are assigned to one of the many hospitals which collaborate with SDSU, and placed under the guidance of specialized professors who have intimate knowledge of both the subject, and the health care institution of placement. This amazing resource is utilized alongside the SON’s state of the art healthcare simulation technology in order to create a safe and fulfilling introduction for its students to a range of professional arenas. Nursing major courses that are taken alongside a clinical rotation include fundamentals of nursing (this course is one of the first and a great introduction into the hospital setting), nurse psychology, and maternal & infant care to name just a few. Clinically focused coursework is also complemented with science courses that are tailored specifically to nursing students, such as pharmacology and pathophysiology. The clinical placements allow for students to apply theories learned from in depth scientific coursework and hone their hands on skills, all while becoming acquainted with the many local hospitals that collaborate with SDSU. RWS 305W: Letter to a Prospective Student English Journal

Through both the SON’s student organization, and my coursework thus far, I have also had the pleasure of becoming involved in healthcare related community events. Opportunities to participate in these events are plentiful, and allow for the student to create meaningful connections with the local community on a level which reflects their current professional standing. One of my recent experiences with a community event was the Day of the Child in Chula Vista, at which a handful of SON students provided glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol checks through a UCSD health sponsored pop-up tent. The availability, and the SON’s focus on student involvement in these extracurricular opportunities create a standard of SDSU nursing graduates who have a rich professional portfolio. Upon graduation, you will have so much more than just a GPA score to make you attractive to potential employers. Although I 5 am only a student with junior standing, my ongoing involvements in these events have enabled me to obtain meaningful professional contacts, give back to my community, and to actually apply my coursework to a real life setting. As a future registered nurse, you will encounter challenges both in an academic, and a professional setting that will reshape you as a person, pushing you to a level of maturity beyond that of your peers and fostering the development of leadership and critical thinking skills. As a result, those who are fortunate enough to find their passion within the nursing major are rewarded with an exciting array of prosperous opportunities ranging from management roles, to graduate programs, and even public health and policy. If you are seeking a major in which to find yourself both challenged and subsequently rewarded with a fulfilling career path, then a BSN might be perfectly suited to you. Thank you for your consideration and we wish you all the best in your academic career at SDSU. Works Cited 6 United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018). Occupational outlook handbook: Registered nurses. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm BSNedu.org (2018). BSN salaries in the California. Retrieved from https://www.bsnedu.org/california-salary/#main ANA Enterprise (2016) Nurses rank #1 most trusted profession for 15th year in a row. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/news/news-releases/2016/nurses-rank-1-mosttrusted-profession-for-15th-year-in-a-row/ San Diego State University School of Nursing (2018) Faculty. Retrieved from https://nursing.sdsu.edu/directory/faculty/ San Diego State University School of Nursing (2018) Sharp Healthcare human simulation center. Retrieved from https://nursing.sdsu.edu/lab-facilities/sharp-center/ …