Hunter Deiglmeier
Review staff writerThe Pre-Nursing Club, created in the spring of 2008, provides nursing students with an opportunity for growth beyond their experiences in the classroom.
“The Pre-Nursing Club provides a supportive community for all interested [people] in the nursing profession,” Kate Elias, academic advising and learning support director and the club’s faculty adviser, said. “It is a place to meet fellow students, explore career opportunities and share a common interest.”
Sophomore Stephanie Easley, the club’s secretary; sophomore Jessica Castillo, the club’s senator; sophomore Amber Brunner, the club’s vice president; and sophomore Angela Shimek, the club’s publicity director, comprise the club’s leadership. Together, they organize events and meetings so members can broaden their experiences within the nursing field.
“Our club is all about providing events that will benefit our members with their future careers as nurses,” Brunner said.
Professional speakers, demonstrations and field trips are part of the club’s event schedule.
“Each year we take the second-year students up to the Portland campus for a tour,” Easley said. “We get to [view] the simulation labs, talk to current students and professors, tour the dorms we will be staying in, as well as experience the atmosphere of the Portland campus. This is always a fun event and something everyone looks forward to.”
But events aren’t always off-campus. Some involve speakers coming to Linfield.
“Some of the events we have planned this year are bringing in someone to talk specifically about debt management as a nurse and what resources we have available to us,” Brunner said. “We are also looking at bringing in a few nurses with various specialties to talk to us about their journey and thoughts about their particular field, as well as someone who can talk to us about volunteer opportunities geared toward the medical profession. We would also like to have a few of our nursing students from the Portland campus come down to talk to us about the transition and what to expect in the future.”
The club leaders are always open to new ideas from members, they said. They want to find out the interests of the other members in order to plan worthwhile events.
The Pre-Nursing Club has a large membership of about 80 students. Although pre-nursing students are only on the McMinnville campus for two years, the club continues to be an important resource for those planning to move on to the Portland nursing campus.
“Usually after attending the first meeting, members realize how pertinent this club is to keeping them on track [with] migrating to the Portland campus and understand that our meetings offer them opportunities that they may not have otherwise been able to attain, such as our various speakers,” Brunner said.
Club meetings are held monthly from 6-7 p.m. in Graf Hall, room 101, typically on Mondays. For more information, contact Elias at [email protected].