Dear Nursing Alumni and Friends,
“Save one life, you’re a hero. Save 100 lives, you’re a nurse.”
This quote truly embodies the spirit of nursing, especially during the COVD-19 pandemic, where our nursing alumni have worked tirelessly to heal the mind, soul, heart, and body of their patients. Nurses around the world, including Penn State nurses, have shown how remarkable they truly are.
With a sense of normalcy looming on the horizon, we continue to look for ways to connect nursing alumni and students from all over the country and the commonwealth. One of the Alumni Society’s successful programs has been our Alumni Careers Spotlight Series, where alumni from various specialties and backgrounds have been able to share their journey and experiences with the SNAPS students. So many amazing alumni have participated already, including: Richie Keene (NP), Katherine Hoysan (CRNA), Katherine Barrett (NYC pandemic nurse), Emily Satteson (flight nurse), Maxine Lewis (pediatric oncology), Meghan Heinle (nurse leader), Rachel Daubney (travel nurse), Alexis Gulliver (OB nurse), and Lauren Thumm (clinical nurse researcher at NIH-NAID). A very warm and special thank you to all these amazing nursing alumni that took the time to share their careers with the SNAPS students. Further, we are also working to extend this program to all SNAPS across the commonwealth. We are currently seeking additional alumni for the series and would love to spotlight you! If interested, please contact us at conalumni@psu.edu.
In April 2021, we also had our annual Awards Event and virtually honored the 2020 alumni/student award recipients and 2021 student award recipients. Our award recipients included:
- Martha Dewey-Bergren: 2020 Shirley Novosel Distinguished Nursing Alumni Award
- Joelyn Niggel: 2020 Paula Milone-Nuzzo Nursing Alumni Volunteer of the Year Award
- Kalei Kowalchik: 2020 Alumni Society Undergraduate Student Service Award
- Ashley Rose Willie: 2020 Alumni Society Graduate Student Service Award
- Emily Bratlee-Whitaker: 2021 Alumni Society Doctoral Nursing Student Academic Excellence Award
- Jessica Satterthwaite: 2021 Alumni Society Undergraduate Student Service Award
- Sanga Jung: 2021 Alumni Society Graduate Student Service Award
- Jaspreet Dhaliwal: 2021 Alumni Society Doctoral Nursing Student Academic Excellence Award
Additional programming coming this summer/fall will include: a virtual cooking event; COVID Mandates panel, where you can earn a free CEU; our mentoring program; and our annual week long Acts of Kindness Challenge. For more information, as details for these events become finalized, check back on the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing website, and our Facebook group page, Penn State Nursing Alumni Society. If you are interested in volunteering or serving on our Alumni Society Board, please send an email to conalumni@psu.edu, we would love to have you.
For the Glory,
Megan Verbos
