Students Raise Funds for Hurricane Katrina
September 2005

The University of North Dakota College of Nursing students in Professor Barb Dahlen’s Community Health clinical course organized a Hurricane Relief Benefit Lunch September 21 at the UND International Center. The fundraising effort brought in over $400, money that went directly to relief efforts along the Gulf Coast.

Paula Netolicky, a senior nursing, headed to Biloxi, MS on October 1 with a team of 11 others from Bethel Lutheran Church in Grand Forks.

The group was in Mississippi for eight days, traveling as a part of Samaritan’s Purse, an emergency relief program that provides assistance to victims of natural disasters. Netolicky said work was performed in areas of greatest need, including cleaning up debris and beginning to rebuild.

In addition to the luncheon, donation jars were placed in businesses and other locations throughout Grand Forks for those in the community wishing to support the group’s efforts. Businesses that participated included Tabula, Urban Stampede, GF Goodribs, Village Inn, University Station, Grand Junction, Red River Valley Gymnastics, Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and Chi Alpha Ministry House.

The donation jars brought in another $400, for a grand total of $811 raised by the students!

ATI – A New Assessment Tool
August 2005

The College of Nursing will begin using the Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI) testing program in fall 2005 at all levels of the undergraduate program. These assessment tools assist students to strengthen their knowledge base systematically throughout the nursing program, leading to a more competent, successful nurse following graduation. Throughout the remaining course of the nursing program, students will be working with and taking a variety of assessment tools that aid in review, remediation, and testing success. Each semester students will be provided with books, DVDs, and testing opportunities that reflect that semester’s nursing content. The assessment tools culminate in the Predicting NCLEX performance test, a 180-item test designed to reflect the content areas of the licensure examination for RNs. Cost for these assessment tools are covered by the College of Nursing; students will incur no additional costs for these materials and tests.

There are several tests and tools that are a part of this assessment program. Early in the semester students will receive review books that will augment the course content. In selected courses, students will be required to take an assessment inventory, which tests the content of the course. These assessment inventories are timed and vary according to the number of questions contained on the inventory. Subjects for which these inventories will be administered include: Medical Surgical Nursing, taken at the Senior I level; Maternal-Newborn Nursing, taken at the junior II level; Nursing Care of Children, taken at the junior II level; Fundamentals of Nursing Practice, taken at the sophomore II level; Mental Health Nursing, taken at the Senior II level; Pharmacology, taken at the Senior II level; Community Health Nursing, taken at the senior I level; and Leadership and Management, taken at the senior I level. The NCLEX predictor test is given during the final week of the senior II semester. There is also a critical thinking test that will be administered at the beginning and culmination of the program.

Faculty at the College of Nursing believe that these assessment tests will assist students in preparing for the RN licensure test as well as providing valuable data concerning the course content of the individual nursing courses.

Ginny Guido, JD, MSN, RN, FAAN
Associate Dean and Director, Graduate Studies