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Featured | Health Education and Human SciencesApril 12, 2024

Student Nurses and the Heart to Save Lives

鈥淵ou have to have the heart for it,鈥� said Savannah Baldwin, a senior nursing student and president of the 妻友社区 Student Nurses鈥� Association (SNA).

Although any nursing student can join the program, being a member of SNA and working toward becoming a nurse is personal to Savannah. Her answer has two meanings. One is to answer the call to become a frontline worker. The other is to have compassion and patience for others in need.

Savannah may not have been the first nursing student to join SNA, but she and the current members continue the mission set forth when the program began in the early 2000s.

It reads, 鈥淲e, students of nursing, believe there is a common need to organize, to represent ourselves to the consumer and other health disciplines, and to assume our rightful place in the profession of nursing. We believe every citizen has a right to the highest quality of healthcare. We believe in the development of the whole person toward their professional role with its rights, responsibilities, and ideas. We believe every right bears inherent responsibility. We believe responsibilities are participatory, not purely philosophical or ideological. We believe the quality and quantity of participation are not exclusive, but bear the responsibility of participation.鈥�

However, having the heart for the job isn鈥檛 all it takes to be a nurse. It takes years of schooling and a support system behind you every step of the way.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to have that community with nurses,鈥� explained Ally Wright, SNA Community Service and Marketing Management and December 鈥�24 graduate. 鈥淓ven real nurses have a community because it鈥檚 really hard to be a nurse with all the struggles that come with it. 鈥� It鈥檚 nice to know someone else is doing the same thing as you, going through the same things as you are.鈥�

Leaning on her belief of what it means to be a nurse and caring for others, Savannah echoed Ally, saying, 鈥淥thers have been through it, and I鈥檓 still pushing. One day, I鈥檒l tell newbies, 鈥榊ou can do it. I can do it; you鈥檒l be fine.鈥欌��

Increasingly, more students opt to pursue a career in nursing for the money, partly due to travel nursing. But for Savannah, it comes down to being someone that others can rely on in a time of need.

鈥淣ursing takes a team because you have your physician, you have your other nurses, and you have their families,鈥� Savannah said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e sitting there providing care, you don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 going to walk in and help. You don鈥檛 know if you鈥檙e going to be the only one. No matter what, you got to be equipped to do it all.鈥�

For Ally, it is a tradition that is three generations deep.

鈥淢y grandma was a nurse, and my mom was a respiratory therapist,鈥� Ally said. 鈥淲hen I was in high school, I really didn鈥檛 know what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to help people.鈥�

Both students are proud of their decision to pursue a degree in nursing and owe much of their success to the support of SNA. Due to their giving nature, both say that through SNA, they have benefited from and given back to the community.

鈥淪tudent Nurses鈥� Association is committed to serving our future nurses and our community,鈥� Savannah stated.

鈥淪NA has reshaped and furthered my love for community projects and volunteering,鈥� Ally said.

However, Savannah, Ally, and the other members of SNA lean on the community of nurses the most. Both have attended conferences, classes, and lectures, learning more from others in the field, like fellow nursing students, faculty, travel nurses, and ICU nurses, to name a few.

Seeing how much help is out there for them to succeed in their mission to help others, Ally is encouraged by others investing in SNA and the nurses of the future.

鈥淲e can do so much more in the community if we have more people because we have the heart; we just don鈥檛 have enough hands to do it,鈥� she said.

• Tags:
• College of Health Education and Human Sciences
• Nursing
• Day of Giving