Special Programs and Projects

Sigma Theta Tau International

Last June, 45 SPU undergraduate and graduate students were inducted into the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau, International.  This special honor was awarded to top students in the class, and signifies excellence in academics and leadership.  Families and nursing faculty joined in the celebration.

 

Pinning Ceremony

The Pinning Ceremony for on-campus undergraduate students will be held on Friday, June 8th 4:00pm

at First Free Methodist Church, across the street from the University.  This special ceremony celebrates the transition from the student role to practicing nurse.  The pinning ceremony is part of a long-standing tradition in nursing.  Originally, end of program celebrations were often capping ceremonies.  As nurses in the US rarely wear caps anymore, these ceremonies have switched to a focus on the school pin.  Each school has its own pin design; this recognizable pin forever commemorates that students received their undergraduate education at SPU.  For information about SPU Commencement see Graduation Events.

 

Living Well Initiative

The Living Well Initiative is a multidisciplinary educational program addressing the needs of persons and families affected by severe and persistent mental health conditions.

 

Co-sponsored by the School of Health Sciences and the School of Psychology, Family, and Community, the program’s goal is to promote awareness and understanding of these conditions through the establishment of the Dickinson Fellowship Program (32 KB PDF), research projects, campus outreach, and annual conferences.

 

Community Health Projects

Each Spring Quarter, senior nursing students participate in community health projects as part of their coursework. Recent ways SPU students have engaged the local health care culture include

 

• Health education. Health education for low-income women at the Compass Center, a transitional housing program

• Fall prevention. A student-developed, media-based teaching program for elders on fall prevention, in partnership with King County’s Fall Prevention for the Elderly program

• Disaster preparedness. Participation in a disaster preparedness program for seniors, in conjunction with Seattle Emergency Management

   

• Middle School Visit  Senior SPU nursing students visited Hamilton Middle School to teach students about healthy choices. Middle School students also visited SPU to learn about futures career options.  View photos of the SHS visit.

For more information about the different ways nursing majors get involved with the community, contact Associate Dean Kelly Marley.

 

Study Abroad

Each Winter Quarter, as part of the Study Abroad Vietnam program, 10 senior nursing students take five weeks of class on SPU’s campus and then, under the guidance of SPU professors, travel across the globe to spend five weeks in city hospitals and rural clinics in Vietnam. There the students provide health education and nursing care to children and families — and gain new perspective on Vietnam’s culture and people.