A New Approach to Welcoming Nursing Students

The fall 2024 new student orientation was moved out of the lecture hall and transformed into a more collaborative, interactive experience.

Students are shown working together in table groups.

Students entering the traditional nursing program and the Career Alternative RN Education (CARE) program sat at small tables of students and faculty where they could more easily interact.

When it came time to refresh the new student orientation at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Nursing, staff from the Office of Student Services thought about what was most important to introduce in those early days. After talking to students, faculty and fellow staff, they had a clear answer. The focus should be on fostering connections and a sense of belonging.

“We want students to connect with one another and with faculty, to feel a sense of warmth and belonging, rather than just sitting in a lecture hall trying to absorb a ton of information at one time,” says Academic Success Coordinator Kathleen Brennan. “We know people don’t remember things well when they’re just listening – engagement and that sense of comfort are critical to retention.”

The fall 2024 new student orientation was moved out of a lecture hall and into the collaborative learning, or “team up,” room in the LSU Health Sciences Center. There, students entering the traditional nursing program and the Career Alternative RN Education (CARE) program sat at small tables of students and faculty where they could more easily interact. The organizers pushed back the orientation’s traditional start time from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and wove large and small-group icebreaker activities into the program.

A Team Effort

Alumni and current students served as greeters and signed students in. Administrators, faculty and staff introduced themselves throughout the event.

The Student Services team brought as many advisors as possible into the orientation to give students essential information about the requirements of their programs, how to find and schedule appointments with faculty members, technology support, the Academic Success Program, tutoring programs, the Campus Assistance Program, the Student Financial Aid Office, Campus Police, the Office of Civil Rights & Title IX, the Office of Disability Services, Student Health and more. Detailed information about courses and campus services was delivered in a new way.

“We tweaked and revamped the way they were getting information by making it asynchronous,” says Academic Success Coordinator M. Dustin Pigg. “We recorded short, commercial-style videos about some of the programs and services on campus, some of which were played during the orientation and all of which they could access on their Moodle sites to watch when they had time. They were packaged almost like a newscast, with all the important facts about a program or a class introduced in a succinct way.”

Current School of Nursing students were integral to the program’s success. The orientation included a campus tour led by student leaders from various organizations, including the Student Government Association, Student Nurses Association and Student Veterans of America, who shared information about how students can be active on campus.

“A highlight of the program was a ‘What to Wear’ session hosted by current students, explaining what our nursing students should wear in the classroom, in clinicals and in the anatomy labs,” Brennan says. “This was a big concern among incoming students, and our current students did a fabulous job – even down to explaining how students should wear their hair, nails and jewelry in each setting.”

Positive Feedback and Future Plans

Brennan and Pigg say feedback from the orientation has been mostly positive, though they have already identified areas to improve for next year’s program.

“Student attendees said what they found most helpful was listening to the other students – from getting the program ‘nitty gritty’ and progression information to the What to Wear session to the campus tour. They were very appreciative of all the resources that were shared with them,” Brennan says.

Brennan and Pigg want to improve future experiences for the school’s off-campus instructional site in Shreveport, where attendees joined via Zoom calls this year, as well as give CARE attendees more opportunities to interact and bond with one another, find ways to introduce new students to the greater New Orleans community and possibly offer orientation extensions throughout the fall semester.

“This is my seventh year at the school, and interactions were very different at this year’s event,” Pigg says. “Students couldn’t come in, sit in the back and potentially fall through the cracks. They’re deeply engaged with their new community.”

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