■ Higher Education
spite of the risk of exposure and infection. They
have continued to take care of patients while
also caring for their families, keeping up with
their academic requirements, and maintaining
their own personal safety and health. Our public
health students also worked with state and
local health departments to provide health education
and link people to COVID‐19 services.
Continued From Page 34
just one of the Montclair State nursing students
making a difference in a profession where long
hours, limited personal protection gear and
sickness have taken a toll. It’s broken my heart
so many times, and while I understand the risks,
and my family worries about me, I couldn’t just
stay home.
Seton Hall University
By Dr. Marie Foley,
RN, CNL.,
Dean, Professor, College of
Nursing
Many of the students and professors
in Seton Hall University’s
College of Nursing have been busy trying to
help out in the fight against COVID‐19. Current
BSN graduates, such as Emily Rose, BSN
’19, who works at Jersey Shore University Medical
Center in Neptune Township, New Jersey,
are working on floors converted from standard
medical or surgical units to COVID‐19 only.
Nurses in our advanced degree programs have
also been on the front lines. Current Adult-Gerontology
student and alumna Johanna Rhein,
MSN ’16, has been treating COVID‐19 positive
patients at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital
in New York City while applying what she
learns to current coursework. Additionally, current
undergraduate nursing students who are
working at urgent care centers and emergency
departments are now facing things that they
might not have faced for years in their nursing
profession. For instance, junior Cara Underwood
had only been working as a nursing assistant
at St. Peter’s University Hospital in New
Brunswick, New Jersey, for a few months before
the pandemic struck. In facing these situations,
these students are going to be that much more
prepared for their nursing careers.
TCNJ
By Dr. Carole Kenner,
RN, FAAN, FNAP, ANEF,
Dean, School of Nursing,
Health & Exercise Science
22 TCNJ undergraduate
nursing students helped
deliver Meals on Wheels . . .
performed contact tracing
. . . answered phones for local
public health departments . . .
During this spring semester, 22
TCNJ undergraduate nursing
students helped deliver Meals on Wheels to seniors,
performed contact tracing and answered
phones for local public health departments,
went grocery shopping for seniors and worked
on COVID‐19 units as part of their duties as
techs and nurses’ aides. We have students who
applied for the New Jersey graduate nursing licensure,
which allows the students to work as a
graduate nurse with some restrictions but in a
larger capacity than an aide or a tech, who are
working at area hospitals, including COVID‐19
units. In our graduate nursing program, all students
are licensed registered nurses and the majority
of them are working in institutions where
patients affected by COVID‐19 are receiving
care. They are typically on the front lines providing
care in the ICU, ER and other parts of
healthcare institutions where the virus is present.
Some students work in community settings
continuing to provide much needed services in
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Thomas Edison State
University
By Dr. Filomela “Phyllis” A.
Marshall,
RN, CNE, Dean, W. Cary
Edwards School of Nursing
Many of our Bachelor of Science
in Nursing (BSN), Master of Science in Nursing
(MSN) and Doctor of Nursing and Practice
(DNP) program students have been leading
from the front lines, serving as a crucial link
between patients and healthcare teams and
performing tirelessly in all levels of patient care
during the pandemic. They continue to model
the behavior and ethics that provide the foundation
for our profession and traits we hope
to instill in our Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN
Program students who will follow them into
the field. Their personal and professional sacrifices
in mitigating the effects of COVID‐19 in
our community are immeasurable. Throughout
the pandemic, our pre-licensure students have
delivered meals and offered respite to Mercer
County first responders, hospitals and local
organizations. As our staff and educators continue
to guide our students against this unprecedented
backdrop, we remain immensely proud
of our nursing program students and our alumni
dedicated to the health of their communities.
The pandemic will have a lasting impact on
healthcare, and we expect that our students and
graduates will carry experiences with them that
will help make them better nurses as new realities
continue to unfold.
Continued On Page 38
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