SIUE School of Nursing

Transformative, amazing, gracious and fortunate were among the words used by four recent School of Nursing graduates as they recalled the global service trips they participated in during the fall 2017 semester.

Myndee Camerer, Marissa Collier and Greg Jennings traveled to Guatemala with Bernadette Sobczak, instructor of family health and community health nursing. Lorilee Sebesta traveled to Haiti with Valerie Griffin, DNP, assistant clinical professor of family health and community health nursing.

“My view of what I do will never be the same,” said Sebesta, a native of Burnet, Texas. “How I look at the people I take care of and how I feel about what I do is much deeper, more cultured, more accepting, and because of that—better.”

Read more about the alumni's experiences.

Nokomis native Adam Schneider earned a bachelor’s in nursing in 2010 and a master’s in nurse anesthesia (CRNA) in 2015 from the School of Nursing. Now, a healthcare leader and entrepreneur, he is pursuing his post-master’s doctor of nursing practice, and is also a lecturer in the nurse anesthesia program.

“Each subsequent trip back to school to further my education at SIUE has been a product of my past positive experiences at the University,” Schneider explained. “I love that I am now helping develop future CRNAs to their full scope of practice, so they can provide high quality care to their patients and communities."

Read more about Schneider's academic and professional leadership.

The School of Nursing and SSM Health reached a new arrangement to offer two online Master of Science nursing degrees to SSM Health nurses. Beginning last month, online Master of Science-Nurse Educator and Master of Science-Health Care and Nursing Administration cohort programs will be available to nurses at SSM Health across its four-state region, which includes Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.

The announcement marks the first time the SIUE School of Nursing has offered its online master degrees as a cohort program to a health system.

Learn more about the collaboration with SSM Health.

The School of Nursing and Kaskaskia College have partnered to offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree track, enabling community college students to rapidly achieve their baccalaureate degree from SIUE after attending Kaskaskia to complete an associate degree and the majority of their general education requirements.

“This is going to benefit students who may not have originally seen themselves going into a four-year program,” said Roberta Harrison, PhD, assistant dean of the School. “They can complete the coursework for an associate degree at the community college level. When they transition into our online program, they can already see the light at the end of the tunnel.”