Coming home
Stroll past the composite picture of the IUSON BL Class of 2013 that hangs on the wall of venerable Sycamore Hall, and you’ll immediately recognize two familiar (but younger) faces: Clinical Assistant Professor Derrick Garletts and Nursing Learning Resource Center (NLRC) Manager & Lecturer Hanna Raber. “Of course, I remember Derrick!” says Hanna. “We had several clinicals together and were occasionally paired in group projects. Our class was pretty close, so we also all spent time together outside of class.”
Hanna has returned to Sycamore and the NLRC, but this time in a very different role: that of an IUSON BL faculty member. Hanna looks back on the many changes that have taken place at our school and in the nursing profession in just the seven short years since she was a student.
Hanna has returned to Sycamore and the NLRC, but this time in a very different role: that of an IUSON BL faculty member. Hanna looks back on the many changes that have taken place at our school and in the nursing profession in just the seven short years since she was a student.
“From a faculty perspective,” she says, “the curriculum has changed to a concept-based curriculum. When I was in school, there were dedicated courses only for Pediatrics and OB. The NLRC has also changed considerably. So has the number of students. My class had just 60 students. Now, we have 80 traditional students, 20 accelerated students, and our RN-to-BSN students.”
The number of faculty has also grown. Among our current faculty, Hanna remembers being taught by Dr. Deanna Reising, Dr. Kim Decker, Dr. Sharon Gates, Dr. Patricia Watts, Dr. Amy Wonder, and Sonita Ball. Of her one-time teachers and mentors, Hanna says: “Working with these individuals as colleagues has been nothing short of wonderful. They are amazing instructors who I’ve always respected. I feel very fortunate to continue to learn from them and develop professionally.”
The number of faculty has also grown. Among our current faculty, Hanna remembers being taught by Dr. Deanna Reising, Dr. Kim Decker, Dr. Sharon Gates, Dr. Patricia Watts, Dr. Amy Wonder, and Sonita Ball. Of her one-time teachers and mentors, Hanna says: “Working with these individuals as colleagues has been nothing short of wonderful. They are amazing instructors who I’ve always respected. I feel very fortunate to continue to learn from them and develop professionally.”
“I think the challenge for any nursing student,” she continues, “is that you must think differently than you ever have before. There might be several correct actions to take in caring for a patient, but you need to critically think through all of the information and prioritize the most important. This requires an incredible amount of reading, self-study, motivation, and organization. For me personally, it was a challenge to balance studying, working, and personal time while meeting my academic goals.
Despite all the rigorous self-discipline and intense study she underwent to prepare herself for a career in nursing, Hanna says: “Honestly, I think I was fairly unaware of the many challenges I would face in the nursing profession. We, of course, learned about public health initiatives – or perhaps inadequacies – that nurses can largely impact and that there would be a nursing shortage. However, I didn’t understand it.
“Now, obviously, we’re in the middle of a pandemic which places an enormous amount of responsibility on the nursing profession. Nurses are absolutely critical to public health on every level. Nurses must be able to navigate through staffing shortages, increased patient acuity, feelings of burnout, and the need to educate the general public on basic hygiene. These can be overwhelming tasks, but nurses continue to rise to the occasion and deliver the best patient care possible. Though there is a lot of work left to do, nurses also continue to advocate for the profession and their patients, creating better working conditions and safer care.”
In addition to the nursing profession, Hanna’s personal life has also changed dramatically since she was a student. “So much has changed since 2013!” she says. “I married my wonderful husband, Clay, in 2015. We currently have 3 girls: Harper, Everlee, and Lillie, ages 4, 2, and 1, respectively. We have two dogs, Poppy and Jasper. Since graduation, I have worked in adult ICU, clinical education for critical care services, and I have now been here with IUSON BL for over 2 years.”
Despite all the rigorous self-discipline and intense study she underwent to prepare herself for a career in nursing, Hanna says: “Honestly, I think I was fairly unaware of the many challenges I would face in the nursing profession. We, of course, learned about public health initiatives – or perhaps inadequacies – that nurses can largely impact and that there would be a nursing shortage. However, I didn’t understand it.
“Now, obviously, we’re in the middle of a pandemic which places an enormous amount of responsibility on the nursing profession. Nurses are absolutely critical to public health on every level. Nurses must be able to navigate through staffing shortages, increased patient acuity, feelings of burnout, and the need to educate the general public on basic hygiene. These can be overwhelming tasks, but nurses continue to rise to the occasion and deliver the best patient care possible. Though there is a lot of work left to do, nurses also continue to advocate for the profession and their patients, creating better working conditions and safer care.”
In addition to the nursing profession, Hanna’s personal life has also changed dramatically since she was a student. “So much has changed since 2013!” she says. “I married my wonderful husband, Clay, in 2015. We currently have 3 girls: Harper, Everlee, and Lillie, ages 4, 2, and 1, respectively. We have two dogs, Poppy and Jasper. Since graduation, I have worked in adult ICU, clinical education for critical care services, and I have now been here with IUSON BL for over 2 years.”
Of her many classmates from the closely-knit Class of 2013, Hanna says: “Unfortunately, we are not as close as we once were, but I’m afraid that happens with long distances, very busy careers, and families. I keep tabs on them via social media and miss them all dearly. I have MANY, MANY interesting stories to tell about our times together, but I would consider our travels to Belize on a medical mission trip and the National Student Nursing Conventions in Utah, Pittsburgh and North Carolina as definitely being among the highlights,” she says with a smile.
And Hanna’s final words of advice for today’s nursing students? “Read as much as possible, always work ahead when you can, find a stress-relieving hobby, and give yourself some grace!”
And Hanna’s final words of advice for today’s nursing students? “Read as much as possible, always work ahead when you can, find a stress-relieving hobby, and give yourself some grace!”