TOMORROW'S NIGHTINGALES

A groundbreaking ceremony for Stephen F. Austin State University's new $13 million Richard and Lucille DeWitt School of Nursing was held Monday at the construction site located at 5707 North St. in Nacogdoches. From left are SFA regents Bob Garrett of Tyler, Lacey Claver of Joshua, Valerie Ertz of Dallas, James Thompson of Sugar Land, Joe Max Green of Nacogdoches, Lucille DeWitt, SFA President Baker Pattillo, School of Nursing Director Glenda Walker, and regents Richard Boyer of The Colony, Melvin White of Pflugerville and Carlos Amaral of Plano. spiring nurses grow up hoping to make a difference in the lives of others as so many others, such as Florence Nightingale, have before. The same can be said for the students of the Richard and Lucille DeWitt Nursing School at Stephen F. Austin State University.

With the advances in technology and the start of a new nursing program at Rusk State Hospital, Florence Nightingale herself would probably wish to be a Lumberjack in Rusk.

The first day of the extension program of the DeWitt School of Nursing at Rusk State Hospital started just like any normal day in Nacogdoches. Eager students took their seats with smiles on their faces, prepared to soak up as much information as possible.

Instructor Mary Pack, RN (back) and her class prepare for their first semester of nursing classes at Rusk State Hospital. In front are Stephanie Lutringer, Brooke Elizondo and Jess Torres. In the middle row are Senayt Wondu and Liz Wallace. The initial five students, all juniors - Stephanie Lutringer of Austin, Brooke Elizondo of Houston, Jess Torres of Lufkin, Liz Wallace of Sugar Land and Senayt Wondu of Dallas - came to Rusk hoping to change the world.

Their instructor hoped to make their transition a smooth one.

"We're not going to change the world on you," instructor Mary Pack, RN, assured the students. "I'm going to depend on you through this process. I hope that you won't mind doing the same."

While the numbers started small, Mrs. Pack believes that this is only the beginning of a beautiful friendship between SFA's DeWitt School of Nursing and Rusk State Hospital.

"We hoped to have more students for the first semester," she said. "Having a small number is fine, however. We can start small and really get this program off of the ground."

A day in the life

Students in the program will spend their Mondays in Rusk, taking health assessment from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. They then have a lab period until noon. After an hour break for lunch, the students return to take pharmacology from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m.

Classes at RSH are taken in conjunction with classes at SFA. The classroom at Rusk State Hospital is outfitted with 14 computers, webcams and headset microphones to allow the Rusk students to hear and interact with lectures going on in Nacogdoches in real time.

Each member of the DeWitt School of Nursing's faculty as well as the five Rusk students have been trained in a program called Elluminate, which allows contact between the SFA campus and the classroom at RSH.

To put it simply, the five young women taking classes in Rusk are taking the same classes as their fellow nursing students, but in a different venue.

On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, they return to Nacogdoches to take their fundamental courses. Some tests in their courses will be taken on the SFA campus in order to cut down on driving for the students and instructors.

The students will also serve their clinicals in Cherokee County, working in Jacksonville and at Lexington Place Rehabilitation in Rusk.

Studying in Rusk

As for the students, the decision to study nursing in Rusk was an easy one.

"This just feels like a better opportunity," Ms. Torres said. "There are only five of us with one professor. We don't have to compete for attention with a larger class. We can get more one-on-one time."

As for the travel, all five students said that it wasn't a factor.

"Since I'm from Austin, I'm used to having to drive to get anywhere I need to go," Ms. Lutringer said. "Driving to Rusk is basically the same thing."

The students said that SFA provided each of them with a stipend to cover travel to and from Rusk. Half of the stipend was credited to their bills this semester and the other half will be credited next semester as long as they remain in the program.

The aspiring nurses also said that they would organize a carpool to get to and from Rusk.

As for the program as a whole, Mrs. Pack said that she hopes that this year's class will inspire more to come.

"We're studying with stateof the-art equipment," she said. "It may be a pilot program, but we're hopeful this will work out long-term."