News Roundup: Graduate Begins Peace Corps, Upgraded Nursing Sim Labs & Design Student Recognized

The college was busy again in September with six nursing pinning ceremonies, a graduate that headed off to the Peace Corps and a campus receiving a huge upgrade in nursing simulation labs!

Check out what else the college and its campuses were up to in the last month—and don’t forget to visit the college’s Facebook page to get live updates throughout the week.

Blaine Graduate Begins Peace Corps Service in Armenia

Annikki Hockert, March 2015 graduate from the Rasmussen College Blaine campus, departed for Armenia Aug. 21 to begin her training as a community and youth services volunteer for the Peace Corps. Hockert will live and work in the community to support local non-government organizations and community-based organizations on issues related to the environment, at-risk youth, human rights, children and youth with disabilities, along with other community-specific needs.

Additionally, she plans to empower youth to be active citizens through life skills activities, service-based learning initiatives, employability skills training, and the development of youth organizations, clubs and camps.

“I have always wanted to travel the world, solve problems and help people,” Hockert said. “The Peace Corps is the best opportunity for that.”

During the first three months of her service, she will live with a host family in Armenia to learn the local language and integrate into the local culture. After acquiring the language and cultural skills that will help her make a difference, she’ll will be sworn into service and assigned to a community in Armenia where she will serve for two years.

Hockert joins 202 Minnesota residents currently serving in the Peace Corps. More than 6,495 Minnesota residents have served as volunteers since the agency was created in 1961.

Mankato Nursing Lab Receives State-of-the-Art Upgrade

Nursing students at the Mankato campus will have the opportunity to practice their life-saving skills in a newly-upgraded simulation lab.

Some of the upgrades include new nursing beds that simulate the equipment used in hospitals and other medical settings. They also received two new adult manikins and a child manikin. What’s special about these manikins? They have a control system that allows them to be programmed to mimic critical care situations, such as cardiac arrest or burn.

“Students can practice taking the manikins’ blood pressure and listen to heart and lung sounds,” said Cheryl Pratt, nursing dean at Rasmussen College. “The manikins can respond by coughing, moaning—even talking.”

Because of the high demand for nurses across the state, more employers are seeking nursing grads that are ready to put their skills to work right away. The new simulation equipment allows students to practice life-saving skills in a real-life setting, but also allows them to make mistakes (and learn from them) in a completely safe environment.

Rasmussen College Hosts 6 Nursing Pinning Ceremonies

Five Minnesota campuses and the Tampa/Brandon campus held nursing pinning ceremonies this past month. Newly-graduated nursing students were presented with a special nursing pin from faculty members as a way of being welcomed into the nursing field.

Before the day of the ceremony, students were asked to choose a significant person in their life to which they would dedicate their pin. This person could be a faculty member, parent, friend–anyone that has has played a significant role in their life and their educational journey.

On the day of the ceremony, the person of significance accompanied each graduate on stage. A faculty member provided that person with a pin, and they in turn placed the pin on the graduate to show they have accepted the graduate’s dedication.

Then, candles were lit and the recent graduates honored Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing, and vowed to carry her ideals as they move forward in their careers by reciting the International Council of Nurses Pledge.

The college’s nursing pinning ceremonies take place throughout the year. There will be around five more campuses in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota that will hold these ceremonies before the end of 2015.

Ocala Design Student’s Videos Featured in Orvis

Ocala design student Glenn Whittington’s passion and talent for film has earned him some exciting recognition in the past few months. Orvis, the world’s oldest and largest fly fishing company, has featured three of Whittington’s videos on their blog, The Tug, in the past couple of months. The company features the most popular or newest fly fishing films weekly.

A previous forestry technician turned graphic design/interactive media student, Whittington has created his projects around music or the outdoors. Additionally, being a fly fisherman and living 15 minutes from the Gulf Coast of Florida, many of his projects incorporate this theme into them.

“Many people outside of the world of fly fishing do not realize how huge fly fishing films really are,” Whittington said. “There are festivals held all over the world to celebrate these sometimes short, long, musical and daring pieces of footage.”

These projects are not for the faint of heart. After putting together a script, storyboard and shot list, he spent another six or seven weeks filming a few times each week. All of the filming featured on Orvis was done by Whittington alone. Being on a student’s budget, he filmed primarily using his Canon T3 DSLR, along with a SJ4000/SJCAM for action and underwater shots. There are many up and down moments due to weather or lack of cooperation with the wildlife and fish, but in the end it has all worked out for Whittington.

Interested in seeing some of his work? Check out this trailer—one of three of his most recent videos.