The-Laker-Issue-Fall-2021

Instead, nurses should ask: What actions can return breathing to normal? This approach empowers nurses to take quick action for better outcomes, she explained. The changes at FLCC reflect a national trend in nursing education that began several years ago. “Organizations that review hospital and patient data found new nurses were making an overwhelming number of errors,” said Annie Moore-Cox, a 1985 nursing graduate honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2002. After FLCC, she worked in the hospital in the village of Hamilton, south of Utica, developed one of the first online graduate nursing programs in the nation at Excelsior College, and earned a doctorate in curriculum design and instructional technology. As a strategic account executive for ATI Nursing Education, she has a broad view of trends in the field. The nursing exam, or NCLEX, short for National Council Licensure Examination, is being retooled to do a better job at capturing “how well a nurse is thinking,” Annie said. The new version will feature more detailed scenarios with questions about how a nurse should respond. Annie said passing rates might initially fall, but it is important for the industry to have an objective way to ensure nurses are ready to practice. Heather thinks the images of nurses on the front lines of the pandemic will encourage more people to tackle the challenging program. “My feeling is more people are going to want to be nurses because people see how important nurses are,” she said. Nursing as a profession is growing in both stature and opportunity, Mary agreed. “I used to tell my students…if you’re not happy, do something else,” she said. “There’s school nursing, there’s OR (operating room), there’s acute care, there’s community-based, there’s moving on with your education and becoming a nurse midwife or a nurse practitioner. It’s just endless the specialties that nurses can enter. Graduates today really have a lot of options as far as where they’re going to land and find their passion.” – Lenore Friend Annie Moore-Cox ’85 works from her home in Middlebury, Vt. for ATI Nursing Education, which provides products and services for nursing schools across the country. The changes the College is making in its nursing program reflect a national trend toward enhancing nurses’ clinical judgment, she said. Annie refers to the FLCC nursing program as “the hardest thing I ever did. There is so much you have to learn and you become a different person.” photo by jan regan Heather Reece-Tillack ’83, professor of nursing and current chair of the department, speaks during the groundbreaking in June for the Sands Family Center for Allied Health. As a student, then as a professor, she has seen nursing education become increasingly sophisticated. photo by rikki van camp