Dishman School of Nursing hosts 20th Annual Nightingale Experience

The JoAnne Gay Dishman School of Nursing hosted their 20th annual “Nightingale Experience” on June 9th and 10th for high school students who are interested in nursing as a career.

The two-day event is split between Lamar University and CHRISTUS St. Elizabeth where students participate in hands-on activities and games that relate to the nursing field.

“The collaboration with CHRISTUS Hospital was wonderful,” Dr. Gina Marsh, co-coordinator of the event, said. “The students had to opportunity to tour many different hospital units, such as Emergency Department, ICU, Infection Prevention, and several others.”

The participants learned skills such as IV starts, injections and foley catheter insertion. They participated in simulations such as mock code blue (CPR) and delivering a baby. CHRISTUS Hospital funds the entire event making it free for the participants. The hospital coordinates all the activities at their facility while Marsh and Dr. Gina Hale co-manages coordinate the activities on campus with the help of nursing students and faculty.

“Our nursing students were excellent leaders, and many of our faculty and staff helped in the skills lab,” Shannon Marsh, nursing and co-coordinator of the event, said.

To attend the event, students are nominated by someone at their high school, usually a counselor, principal, or teacher. In total, the school of nursing hosted 37 students from 20 schools.

“The high school representative nominates 2-4 exceptional students that are interested in healthcare. The student then fills out an application and is selected by a committee,” Marsh said.

In the future, Marsh hopes to expand the event to more schools and provide more students with this opportunity.

“The students that come to the event always have such positive feedback,” she said. “One of the students had his mother with him, and she said he had not stopped talking about the event, our nursing program, and LU since he had come home. I want more students to be able to experience this! We want to showcase what we have at Lamar and our local hospitals to our community.”

To learn more about the Nightingale Experience, visit https://www.lamar.edu/arts-sciences/nursing/initiatives/the-nightingale-experience.html