{"id":55914,"date":"2020-08-04T11:25:21","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T16:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=55914"},"modified":"2020-08-04T11:25:22","modified_gmt":"2020-08-04T16:25:22","slug":"fhsus-inaugural-bsn-to-dnp-graduating-class-sets-a-high-standard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=55914","title":{"rendered":"FHSU\u2019s inaugural BSN to DNP graduating class sets a high standard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By UNIVERSITY RELATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graduating classes of 2020 across the country long will be remembered for the challenges they faced during the last several weeks before graduation.

But it\u2019s the success of one group of new alumni at Fort Hays State University that future graduates will look to emulate for years to come.

The inaugural graduating class from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing to Doctorate of Nursing Practice (BSN to DNP) online program set the bar high when all 12 passed the national certification board examination on the first try.

Now, those advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) are working in medical facilities all across the state in a wide variety of healthcare services: family practice, public health, cardiology, rheumatology and psychiatric.

Contributing to that perfect pass rate were several measures implemented by the nursing department and its staff before the program even started.

Nursing faculty wrote grants from two different organizations that helped fund equipment and extra classes \u2013 some geared specifically toward tips for passing the certification exam.

In addition, two Fort Hays State BSN to DNP students were selected for fellowships from the KU School of Nursing where DNP graduates work in a residency-type program, giving them invaluable experience their first year after graduation.

\u201cThe program is designed for the APRN to continue to learn from instructors, preceptors and specialists,\u201d said Terry Siek, vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer at The University of Kansas Health System-HaysMed Campus. \u201cWe have been working on transition to practice for our APRNs and hope this will be the model that we can follow in the future.\u201d

Heather Holaday from Garfield received one of the KU fellowships and is working at the Pawnee Valley Medical Associates in Larned.

\u201cIt\u2019s a great transition piece,\u201d Holaday said. \u201cI\u2019ll have the opportunity to go into a practice and learn as I go. I get a year of guidance from a mentor who I can rely on to ask questions.\u201d

The clinic pays for 60 percent of the graduate\u2019s salary, while the fellowship makes up for the remaining 40 percent.

One of the grants written by FHSU came from the Hansen Foundation. Graduates set to work in any of the 26 counties served by the foundation could apply for a $25,000 scholarship to help offset college expenses.

The largest grant came from a Health Resources and Service Administration. That federal grant provides the BSN to DNP program with nearly $700,000 over a four-year span. Half of that goes to stipends to graduates who will work in rural and underserved areas for at least two years. The other half helps with the purchase of new equipment, funding new faculty positions to assist in simulations and clinical site placement, and to enhance course work.

Adding review courses for the national certification to part of the curriculum was key to the graduates\u2019 success, said Mary Jo Gubitoso, assistant professor of nursing.

She said the courses helped them organize the large volume of material and gave them test-taking skills, and provided practice exams before taking the national certification.

\u201cI thought those review courses were phenomenal,\u201d Holaday said. \u201cThey were difficult, but I felt so prepared for my certification exam. I knew I had the information to pass.\u201d

Jenny Manry, chair of FHSU\u2019s nursing department, attributes the success of the program to her entire team, especially faculty.

\u201cOur faculty are some of the best nurse practitioners in Western Kansas,\u201d she said. \u201cThey each practice part-time in a clinical setting to stay current in evidence-based practice. These sites include working in the emergency room, cardiology, family practice, and neonatology. They care about students and often burn the midnight oil to make sure that our program is the best.\u201d

Information about the BSN to DNP program and all nursing program at Fort Hays State can be found at www.fhsu.edu\/nursing<\/a>.

Following is a list of the first graduating class of the BSN to DNP program, their hometowns and their place of employment:
\u2022 Summer Anthony, Salina, KU School of Nursing fellowship, First Care Clinic, Hays.
\u2022 Alicia Arias, Hays, First Care Clinic, Hays.
\u2022 Paula Bitter, Holyrood, Russell County Health Dept.
\u2022 Violet Gomes, Basehor, Leavenworth County Health Dept.
\u2022 Heather Holaday, Garfield, KU School of Nursing fellowship, Pawnee Valley Medical Associates, Larned.
\u2022 Vicki James-Bortzer, Jetmore, Pratt Regional Family Practice, Dodge City.
\u2022 Jennifer Payne, Garden City, Heart Center at St. Catherine Hospital, Garden City.
\u2022 Cathryn Preisner, Hays, Hays Family Medicine.
\u2022 Debra Shinn, Ellis, Rheumatology Clinic, Russell Regional Hospital.
\u2022 Alicia Utley, Hutchinson, seeking employment in family healthcare.
\u2022 Jenesa Osborn, Valley Center, Cardiovascular Care, Wichita.
\u2022 Erica Powell, Ellinwood, Center for Counseling, Great Bend. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By UNIVERSITY RELATIONS Graduating classes of 2020 across the country long will be remembered for the challenges they faced during the last several weeks before… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11722],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55915,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55914\/revisions\/55915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}