As interest in health care careers, and particularly nursing, continues to grow, so does Ivy Tech Community College’s academic program.
The college’s nursing programs in Crown Point and Valparaiso recently saw a record number of applicants, 270 for fall and 210 for spring. This is due in part to the large numbers of baby boomers retiring from the health care field, according to Jennifer Philbin, dean of nursing.
Ivy Tech ensures its courses prepare future nurses well by keeping up to date with equipment like labs with manikins simulating actual patients, hiring well-qualified instructors and forming partnerships with area medical facilities.
“Our goal is to provide quality nurses to meet the needs of the community,” Philbin said.
Randee Marinaro, department chair of Ivy Tech’s School of Nursing at the Valparaiso campus, points to this year’s 96 percent student pass rate for state boards as proof of the program’s quality.
Future plans call for the curriculum to incorporate anatomage tables, which use high-tech 3-D imagery, rather than human cadavers, for instruction in human anatomy.
Kris Shebel, a 47-year-old wife and mother working as a CNA while earning an associate degree in nursing, thoroughly enjoys the program.
“I absolutely love it!” said Shebel, who was drawn to nursing after losing her best friend to breast cancer and watching her father recover from thoracic surgery. “The professors are simply amazing. They make every effort possible to help students achieve the high standards set by the school.”
Shebel credits Ivy Tech with helping her develop critical thinking skills, noting she often hears her instructor’s voice in her head as she goes about her job at Porter Regional Hospital.
“Ivy Tech’s program allowed me to work with the kids I’ve grown to love while still obtaining a degree in a field I am excited about,” said Haley Brooks, 24, of Highland, who currently works as a nanny.
“I want to work as a pediatric nurse so I can combine my two passions together. The instructors continually find ways to make class interesting.”
Becoming a nurse had been a long-deferred dream for Janice Witkowski, 47, of Hammond.
“The clinical and simulation lab experiences are excellent,” Witkowski said of Ivy Tech. “I was once in a simulation where the patient was crashing and my fellow students and I were all trying so hard to save him. We were all going quite crazy trying all kinds of interventions. When it was over, I only then realized how we were all so caught up in the moment. It felt very real.
“I feel honored to have had experienced nurses as instructors. While taking that first nursing job will be scary, I’ll know I am capable of the work because I have not only been taught the skills but told by the Ivy Tech nursing staff that I can do it, and that’s what really counts.”
Donna Kiesling is a marketing assistant for Ivy Tech Community College.
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