Nursing
January 22, 2014
To Continue the Care: Scholarship in Memorial of Isaac Steiner
Isaac Steiner would have turned eight this Thursday. Instead his parents, Rob and Sarah Steiner, will face a difficult birthday in remembrance of their son, the first since Isaac lost his life to a 21-month battle with brain cancer last March. Throughout Isaac’s devastating fight, the family found some solace in the support of their community – and their nurses. This support led his parents, both Goshen College graduates (’98), to create a scholarship for GC nurses, wishing to continue the kind of care Isaac had. “Isaac loved his nurses,” said his mother, Steiner. “They developed relationships with him, knew...
October 13, 2013
Nursing department turns 60
This past homecoming weekend, nursing alumni and current students gathered to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Goshen College’s nursing department. Goshen’s first nursing class of 1953 had eight students. All eight of the 1953 alumni passed their boards above the national average rate. As of 2013 a total of around 1,600 students have graduated with the major. As familiar faces flooded into the celebration, memories were shared. Four of the original eight alumni attended the anniversary celebration and told of their experiences with going to Elkhart General Hospital for clinicals and riding in one car they called the “Grey Goose.”...
March 20, 2013
Goshen nursing students inducted into international nursing society
Twenty-two students in Goshen College’s nursing program will be inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society for Nursing (STTI) on Friday at 7 pm. According to their official website, STTI is committed to supporting the “learning, knowledge, and professional development of nurses committed to making a difference in health worldwide.” Sigma, theta and tau are named after Greek words for love, courage and honor. STTI is divided into 501 chapters that include nursing programs from around the world. The Goshen students will be inducted into the Nu Omicron-at-large chapter. Gail Weybright, an associate professor of nursing at Goshen College,...
January 30, 2013
New campus counselor brings passion and vision
Over the last year and a half, the Goshen College Wellness and Health Center has seen its fair share of change. Diane White, nurse practitioner, left campus in 2011, followed by Char Hochstetler, campus counselor, in 2012, but as of this semester the Wellness and Health Center has a new occupant. On Jan. 7, the GC community welcomed Jennifer Beer to campus, where she will serve as the new campus counselor. Beer is an Elkhart native and currently resides there with her husband, her three children–ages five, six and 13–and the family dog, an Australian shepherd named Max. She grew...
November 29, 2012
Nursing student, a single mom, turns to Indiegogo
“Honey, you need to brush your teeth and wash your face,” Jillian De Moya calls to her 9-year-old daughter, whose piano playing carries through the small house before bedtime. Clean dishes rest in a drying rack next to the kitchen sink, and notebooks full of homework are scattered on the kitchen table. De Moya is a mom, naturally, but she is also a full-time nursing student at Goshen College, raising four children alone. Her part-time job at a consignment store in downtown Goshen, Seconds on Third, does not pay all the bills, so she is asking her community for help...
April 11, 2012
Employees tested for healthy living habits
As part of Goshen College's new wellness plan, employees are undergoing health testing this week. The testing, conducted Tuesday through Friday this week in Newcomer, measures employees' body mass index, blood pressure, LDL cholesterol and tobacco/nicotine use in hopes that they will meet goals similar to standards set by the National Health Institute. The tests come after a school year of new health measures at the college. Norm Bakhit, Human Resources director, says that GC created a wellness program to help foster improved health as a group. “Goshen College is self-insured,” said Bakhit. “The healthier our Goshen community, the less...
February 9, 2012
Nursing department bids farewell to mock convention
The idea began on a porch at sunset. It was the fall of 1973 and several nursing faculty members were attending a state nursing convention. Merv Helmuth, an associate professor of nursing, remembers he sat in a rocking chair when ideas started spinning for a mock convention. “We were looking for a new way to help students learn leadership skills,” said Helmuth. “The convention was born in an hour.” For the last 42 years, Goshen College nursing faculty and students have gathered for the Nursing Mock Convention on campus. Helmuth, who retired last year, has coordinated every one. This year’s...
January 19, 2012
From Amish baker to Goshen graduate
Only eight years ago, Naomi Kramer was living in an Amish community located in Jamesport, Mo., where she worked in a bakery and did chores at home without the aid of electricity. Today, she drives a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse and spends more time in science labs than cleaning her house. Kramer is 26 years old and set to graduate next year with a nursing degree from Goshen College. Kramer described her old Amish life as “peaceful” and “slow-paced.” She washed clothes with a gasoline-powered ringer washing machine and, in the absence of television, spent her free time reading the Little...
March 10, 2011
Nursing students organize state convention
Heather Savage-Maierle, a senior nursing student and the president of the Indiana Association of Nursing Students, along with several other GC nursing students, organized the state convention for student nurses las Friday and Saturday, March 4 and 5. Highlights of the convention included several keynote speakers and round table discussions where students could ask professional nurses about their specialities. Associate professors of nursing Gail Weybright and Judy Weaver-Yoder offered their advice during the round table discussions.
February 10, 2011
Nursing students explore holistic care during 40th annual mock nursing convention
Goshen College nursing students will merge their knowledge of nursing care with their knowledge of societal issues this Friday, Feb. 11 at the 40th annual Nursing Mock Convention. The convention allows nursing students to identify significant topics in the field and address ways of approaching them. The convention’s theme is “Stepping into the unknown: Holistic nursing in a changing healthcare system,” and covers three proposed resolutions: the need for cultural competency among nurses, mandatory overtime and mandatory criteria for emergency room admission. “As conscientious health professionals, it is our duty to address such issues as they arise. This year‘s convention...
December 2, 2010
Flu verification (online only)
As educators, we are always on the lookout for teachable moments. This week has provided several of them, and the Goshen College Nursing Department faculty and staff would like to take advantage of these opportunities to set the record straight about what is and is not “the flu”. The “Flu virus, dubbed ‘The Plague’ sweeps campus” headline from the Goshen College newspaper of November 18 is both problematic and incorrect. Briefly, flu, short for influenza, is a very contagious respiratory illness that often causes coughing, fever, generalized aching, weakness, and headache. It can lead to pneumonia and other severe and...
November 17, 2010
A day of AIDS awareness
On Wednesday, Dec. 1 there will be a World AIDS Awareness event at Goshen College. This event, hosted by the Pre-Med Club and the Goshen College Nursing Student Association, will take place in Java Junction from 8-10 p.m. While HIV/AIDS is receiving less media attention than it did during the 80's and 90's, it is still a pandemic in many places around the world. This challenging issue is going to be a part of our world for a long time, and people need to be informed about it. The Center for Disease Control estimates more than 1 million people in...
September 9, 2010
New faculty join in nursing, theater, informatics
With the 2010-2011 academic year underway, Goshen College welcomes 20 new employees to campus this fall. Here’s a look at three new faculty members: Kent Palmer, informatics, Jan Emswiler, nursing and Tamera Izlar, theater. Kent Palmer Beginning this fall, students can be accepted into the informatics program – the first program at a Christian college in the midwest and the only informatics program available at a Mennonite institution. What is informatics, exactly? “In informatics, students learn how to use computers to preserve and store information,” said Palmer. “Through the use of computers they will learn to process information and then...
November 19, 2009
Nursing students make history administering H1N1 vaccines
The last time it happened, it was smallpox and polio in the 1960s and 70s. Now, decades later, the public health system is back--the schools are giving mass inoculations—this time because of the H1N1. Six Goshen College students in the Community Health nursing course have had the opportunity to be a part of this history-in-the-making, as they do their clinicals with the local health department, schools and with agencies that work with vulnerable populations. As a part of the course, these nursing students are required to spend some time at the Elkhart County Health Department. This fall, the health department...
February 4, 2009
Nurses to debate during annual mock-convention
The 38th annual Nursing Mock Convention on Friday will bring Goshen College nursing students and faculty together to debate and vote on controversial issues in the nursing field. Topics include the legalization of marijuana for medical use, mandatory organ donation and refusal of all unpaid treatment for undocumented patients. The convention is an annual event that students real-world experience outside a hospital setting. The day-long event begins at 7:45 a.m. in the College Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall, with the theme "Diversity in Nursing: Avenues to Holistic Care." "Today, medicine is running down the path of science, and ignoring the client...