Loss& Love Kayla Heine, BSN ’22
Kayla Heine’s personal loss was transformed into a love for patient care. Once she witnessed the positive influence nurses wield beyond bedside care, Kayla Heine became determined to follow the same path. “Several years ago, my grandfather passed away in a neuroscience intensive care unit from West Nile virus. The guidance, compassion, support and expertise provided by his nurses got us through each day,” recalled Heine, a graduate of the W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing and Health Profession’s Accelerated BSN Program. “I realized how important nurses are in educating and communicating with families, and I began to imagine becoming one myself.” She had already earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Smith College in Northampton, Mass., with a minor in Chinese language and literature before she began looking for a pre-licensure nursing program that fit her expanding objectives. Now a cardiac telemetry nurse for Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, N.J., Heine had enrolled in TESU’s 15-month program and earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in December 2022 after passing the NCLEX-RN exam. “I was attracted to the program because of its affordability and timeframe. The small class size and convenient location also drew me in,” she noted. She credits the program’s nurse educators for providing her with a strong foundation in clinical practice, patient care and ethical decision-making and valued the hands-on experience she gathered. “Although I sometimes shuddered when I looked at the clinicals and patient sim labs (simulation laboratories) on my schedule, those were the times I learned the most,” Heine said. She also discovered that study groups helped to solidify what she was learning at a rapid pace. “I was a member of a study group for most of the program and
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