STUDENT: Logan DeSanto

PROJECT ADVISOR: Michael Evans

ABSTRACT

Early socialization into the nursing profession is important for nursing students to enhance their clinical and cognitive skills, which will prepare their transition into the nursing profession or prepare them for graduate education. Penn State nursing students are not introduced into clinical settings until their sophomore year of education. Clinical experiences have been more limited due to current COVID-19 restrictions. Additionally, there are limited opportunities in home health and hospice settings. Currently, undergraduate nursing curriculum provides minimal exposure to nursing research. During the past few semesters, opportunities were provided to shadow Dr. Michael Evans, who works as a part time nurse for the Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) Home Health and Hospice Agency of Lackawanna County in Olyphant, Pennsylvania. While shadowing Dr. Evans, there were opportunities to practice skills taught in pervious and current nursing courses, such as assessing patients and providing care to a variety of patients in the home setting. As for research, there were opportunities to gain exposure to nursing research and academia skills. This was achieved by writing and editing manuscripts utilizing research methods. Early socialization to the nursing field was experienced throughout this engagement experience. This experience provided insight as to what a nurse does daily, and the factors that contribute to patient care, which allows for readiness for clinical rotations, graduate school, and an eventual career. As for research, a new area of interest in nursing was discovered, which confirmed an interest in graduate school. The Student Engagement Network Innovation Grant funded this engagement experience.