The Misericordia University Department of Nursing's External Advisory Board recently hosted its 7th annual External Advisory Board meeting at the Westmoreland Club in Wilkes-Barre to discuss changes and challenges in delivering high-quality health care and health care education.
"The values and beliefs of nursing as a humanistic service continue to embody the role of the professional nurse as a future leader,'' said Cynthia Mailloux, Ph.D., chair and professor of nursing at Misericordia University. "The nurse, as a leader, utilizes evidence-based decision making while adapting to change in a multicultural society. Misericordia faculty members gain valuable insights by tapping into the wealth of knowledge available to them in regional nursing settings in order to help them better prepare students to transition into the varied professional practices.''
The health care and educational professionals who have volunteered to participate on the advisory board bring years of experience from varied backgrounds, including the clinical and academic fields. The advisory board discusses community-related topics to help members gain a better understanding of the health care needs of residents in Northeastern Pennsylvania and to discuss how Misericordia University's Department of Nursing can help to address them.
Misericordia University features the oldest nursing program in the area and graduates more students in the health sciences than any other college or university in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The University offers three undergraduate nursing programs: the traditional, full-time program; part-time accelerated evening program for adult students; and the RN-to-BSN Expressway Program. The undergraduate nursing programs are designed to meet the special educational and scheduling needs of adult and traditional students, leading to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree.
The MSN nursing program is designed to meet the special needs of current BSN registered nurses who desire an advanced practice specialization as a family nurse practitioner. MU also offers a post-master's certificate as a family nurse practitioner for nurses who already have an advanced clinical master's degree and who wish to change or expand their practice focus to primary care. Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with advanced education in health assessment, diagnosis and management of acute and chronic health conditions with expertise in health promotion and disease prevention. Graduate programming leads to the MSN and provides course work in a convenient part-time, one-day-a-week format.
Misericordia also offers a Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) program which is conducted totally online. The DNP is a practice doctorate, which is focused on translating evidence based practice as a means of improving clinical outcomes from a population health focus.
For more information about the Department of Nursing at Misericordia University, please call (570) 674-6400 or log on to www.misericordia.edu/nursing. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1924, Misericordia University is Luzerne County's first four-year college and offers academic programs on the graduate and undergraduate levels in full- and part-time formats. Misericordia University ranks in the top tier of the Best Regional Universities – North category of U.S. News and World Report's 2016 edition of Best Colleges, and was designated a 2016 Best Northeastern College by the Princeton Review.
Caption:
The Department of Nursing at Misericordia University hosted its 6th annual External Advisory Board meeting. Participating in the meeting, standing first row from left, are Dr. Dana Clark, Luzerne County Community College; Dr. Brenda Pavill, graduate program director, Misericordia University; Dr. Cynthia Mailloux, professor and chairperson, Misericordia University; Doreen Kolojejchick, assistant chief nursing officer, Commonwealth Health Systems; Mary Beth Pacuska, program chair, Wilkes-Barre Career and Technical Center; Michelle Hawkins, Part-Time Evening Program director, Misericordia University; second row, Debra Vilegi Payne, Luzerne County Community College; Marge Hennelly Bergin, C.N.O., Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center; Sandy Rochon, Commonwealth Health Systems; Angelo Vendetti C.N.O., Geisinger Community Medical Center; Michael Golden C.N.O., Lehigh Valleh Health-Hazleton, and Dr. Annette Weiss, RN/Expressway Program director, Misericordia University.