Waynesburg University hosts its annual “Nursing as a Career Day” Oct. 5, open to all high school students who may be interesting in going to college for nursing. The registered students will meet in the Center for Research and Economic Development on campus at 9 a.m.

High school students who attend the event will learn what the career of nursing entails and what they can expect as a nursing major. They will also receive a tour of the Nursing Department and meet with faculty so they can see what Waynesburg University has to offer to nursing students.

Dr. Nancy Mosser, chair and director of the Department of Nursing and professor of nursing, is heavily involved in the planning of the event.

“Nursing as a Career Day is an important recruitment event that not only highlights the nursing program, but also allows prospective students to interact with faculty in the lab and ask questions to current students,” said Mosser.

Sherry Parsons and Eve Weaver, instructors of nursing, are alumni of the program and are excited to show the attending students what the nursing major is all about.

“The purpose is to bring the students in with their family members to educate them on what nursing is… and also what they can expect to be doing when they enter our program—if they choose our program,” said Parsons.

Parsons said that students will be given educational materials about the nursing major. They will also receive a sheet that shows them the program, outlines what courses they would be taking and shows what the requirements within the program are in order to prepare them for what they will experience if they decide to go to college for nursing.

“We give them a little bit of a background about what the program entails, what we do and what they would be doing as a freshman, because when [the high school students] come in, they are just exploring the nursing major,” said Parsons.

After listening to Mosser and upperclassmen speak about the nursing program, students will experience what Weaver said is the highlight of the event: the simulation lab. Weaver said that they will do a demonstration for the students with their three-year-old high-fidelity simulator. The simulator is a mannequin that acts as a patient. When it is on, it moves and sounds as though it breathes, blinks, has a pulse and other realistic movements.

“It’s a good opportunity for them to touch him, and if they want to, they can listen to him, and they usually think that is phenomenal,” said Weaver. “They usually are very involved when we ask if anybody want to take his pulse, especially when we turn him on and he’s blinking and looking at them, and they really interact with him.”

This year, students will also be given the opportunity to speak with student representatives of Waynesburg University’s Student Nurses Association of Pennsylvania.