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March 2022 DSU’S NURSING PROGRAM MAKES IT EASY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
small student-to-faculty ratio as well as the ladder program, which allows students to take nursing courses and care for patients in the clinical setting for four years. I think this helps students feel more prepared to care for patients after graduation.” A key element to the nursing program is student clinical participation. The healthcare facilities in the Dickinson community are very supportive of DSU nursing students, and the clinical agencies provide them with ample opportunities to practice their clinical skills. DSU’s Department of Nursing has contracts with many local and surrounding agencies. Some of these are: Sanford Health (Dickinson and Bismarck), CHI St. Alexius Health Dickinson, St. Luke’s Home, St. Benedict’s Health Center, Badlands Human Service Center, Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Shelter, and Head Start.
Nursing has always been a tough but rewarding career. Then COVID-19 happened. Now, nurses are needed more than ever, and Dickinson State University’s (DSU) nursing program is designed to get highly qualified nurses into the workforce as soon as they are ready. Heather (Hintz) Fahy is a DSU senior nursing student and Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program scholar who currently works as an LPN at CHI St. Alexius Health Dickinson and at the university in Student Health. She has a brother with non-verbal autism who inspires her to care for others. So, she chose nursing—not only to make a difference, but also because she values the endless career options that nursing provides and the fact that nurses can advance their degrees. Being a nurse during a pandemic isn’t a problem for Fahy. “I provide care for covid patients at the hospital,” she shared. “While there are difficult days, facilitating a patient’s healing process is so rewarding.” Although Fahy always wanted to work in healthcare, she hadn’t always planned on studying at Dickinson State. “As a high school student, I planned to attend a large university,” Fahy admitted. “However, after touring the nursing department at DSU, I felt at home. I valued the
It is not unusual that Fahy is both a DSU nursing student and already has a job as an LPN. “Many students are offered employment during their clinical internship/practicum prior to graduation,” said Lucy Meyer, chair of the Department of Nursing and associate professor at DSU. “Students have been offered positions at CHI St. Alexius Dickinson and Sanford Bismarck.” Kayla Kleinjan, RN-BSN, medical-surgical and pediatrics director, and interim vice president of patient care services at CHI St. Alexius Health Dickinson explained why they offer positions to DSU nursing students saying, “The students that are recruited from DSU are well prepared and familiar with the facility, which reduces their orientation time, which gets quality nurses to the bedside more quickly, benefitting the organization and community.” People who enroll in DSU’s nursing program can be confident that they will be entering the workforce with all the skills they need to succeed. “The students hired from DSU are adaptable and flexible, often becoming frontline nurse leaders within the organization very quickly,” said Kleinjan. “DSU nursing students also bring values of excellence, integrity, compassion, collaboration, and community commitment to the organization with them. I believe these values are reflective of their experiences in the nursing program and with DSU overall.” continued on next page