BLUEFIELD, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Mercer, McDowell, and Monroe Counties eighth-grade students with an interest in the nursing profession will have a chance to spend time working alongside real nurses in actual hospital environments during the three-day West Virginia Junior Nursing Academy at Bluefield State University and WVU Medicine/Princeton Community Hospital, June 25-27.
Students in the academy will attend classes on the BSU campus and participate in simulated hospital experiences at WVU Medicine/Princeton Community Hospital.
Sandra Wynn, MSN, RN, APRN, FNP-BC, is the Director of Associate Degree Nursing at Bluefield State University. “West Virginia has a growing nursing shortage,” Wynn noted. We feel this a great recruiting effort to prepare students to enter the nursing field upon graduation from high school.”
“Middle school is the age during which you want to catch students interested in a nursing career,” Wynn continued. “There are steps students can take in high school to prepare for acceptance into a nursing program as a college freshman. This program allows students to see what nursing is like in the real world, not the images they see in the media.”
The students in the academy will also interact with students currently in the nursing program at BSU, nursing professionals at WVU/PCH, and BSU Nursing faculty. This enables students to talk to nursing professionals with the knowledge and understanding to guide them toward a successful nursing career.
The academy includes three days of activities, including CPR certification. “The students will come out with a skill that may save a life one day,” Wynn continued.
“They are also provided scrubs and stethoscopes, and they experience what it is like to be members of a health care team. The students and families will participate in a graduation and pinning ceremony on the last day of the academy. These activities strengthen their understanding of what it’s like to be in nursing school.”
The nursing academy is a partnership between Bluefield State University and WVU Medicine/Princeton Community Hospital. The program receives financial assistance through a grant from the West Virginia Center for Nursing.
Applications for the 2024 WV Junior Nursing Academy are due by April 30, 2024, and can be obtained online at: https://bluefieldstate.edu/academics/schools/nursing-allied-health or through the College of Health Sciences at bluefieldstate.edu.
For more information contact Sandra Wynn, Director of Associate Degree Nursing Program/BSU College of Health Sciences by email: swynn@bluefieldtate.edu.
Content – Bluefield State University