ANNIVERSARY Nursing | Vets "¢, ANNIVERSARY hills’ Nurses from these nationally accredited programs work in health-care facilities across Utah. “Weber State graduates are good nurses and people like them,” Ms. Swenson says. A May celebration will highlight four decades of growth into a well-respected program. The anniversary has given Ms. Swenson a chance to look back at the 17 years she spent as nursing director. The Weber State program had its share of admirers from the beginning. Ms. Swenson says people from many community colleges came to see how similar programs might work at their own schools. “The country has always looked to Weber State as an example,” she says. Some 60 percent of all nurses in the United States today are educated in two-year associate She Remembers F arly Program Days Ruth Stewart Swenson by JaNae Francis uth Stewart Swenson says she still gets “chills” ‘.when she remembers the early years of Weber State’s 40year-old nursing program. Then a community college, Weber State had been chosen by Columbia University as one of eight schools in the United States to offer a revolutionary two-year program in which students would become nurses by completing college-course requirements and conventional nurse training. Nurses previously were trained and housed in strict three-year hospital live-in diploma programs. Nurses and administrators accustomed to being able to get help from nursing students at any time were slow to accept the change. “We were not loved,” says Ms. Swenson, the program’s first director. “No one had ever thought of moving a nursing program into a community college. This was a drastic change.” Weber State students who wore school-color uniforms to hospital labs were called “The Purple Wonders” by cynical col- degree programs. Relations with health-care personnel improved with time as Weber States faculty began including hospital personnel in planning. “People responded better when they were included in decision making,” she says. She believes most bad feelings have been long forgotten as many hospital workers of four decades ago have been retired for years. “I think people have accepted Weber State’s program and have forgotten that when it Started it was very revolutionary,” she says. @ Ms. Francis writes for the public communications department at the University. Program Milestones At May’s 40th anniversary observance of Weber State University’s nursing program, organizers will celebrate a number of “firsts” the program has enjoyed. The historical highlights include: + In 1953, Weber State became the first Utah college to offer an experimental two-year nursing program. * In 1962, Weber State became the first Utah college approved for a permanent nursing program. * In 1971, Weber State started the first Utah co-operative education nursing program with Utah State University. This program remains the only one of its kind in the state. * In 1972, Weber State opened the first one-year practical nursing program at a U.S. college or university. * In 1975, Weber State began an outreach nursing program in Payson. It remains the only Utah nursing program offering outreach programs. * In 1981, Weber State established the first contractual program in the State with a health-care organization — Intermountain Health Care — allowing the company’s nurses and nursing assistants to be trained through Weber State. + In 1987, Weber State began offering a four-year baccalaureate degree program in nursing and became the only Utah school to offer certification for three separate levels of nursing. MISTY MEMORIES — Student nurses in Weber State's first nursing class use a teakettle and umbrella to design a steam tent. leagues. One doctor interrupted Ms. Swenson’s classes to tell students he never would trust a Weber State graduate. “T told my students if they saw the doctor coming, I’d hide in the linen closet,” Ms. Swenson says. “Isn’t that silly — a grown woman hiding in the linen closet?” She laughs when she recalls the doctor later proclaiming his preference for having a particular nurse in surgery. She believes he was unaware that the skilled nurse was a Weber State graduate. One year, she and fellow nursing faculty members decided to improve relations with hospital personnel by inviting them to a spaghetti dinner. But no one came. “We lived on spaghetti all winter,” Ms. Swenson says. Later, Ms. Swenson says, she began to understand the reaction. “We were upstarts,” Swenson says. We knew what we wanted to achieve, but we had no precedents and I didn’t realize the many implications of the new program. It was like walking into a hornet’s nest.” Ms. Swenson, herself a graduate of the diploma schools her program was attempting to replace, found few in favor of her ideas. When she spoke at a nursing conference in Chicago, the audience stood and shouted complaints. “I defended myself as well as I could, but I’m afraid that wasn’t enough,” Ms. Swenson says. “I still get chills thinking about the bad experiences.” Nevertheless, Ms. Swenson has fond memories of support she received from campus faculty, staff and students. She believes that despite her trials, the first students were the real heroes. “They put two years of their lives at stake,” she says. In time, Ms. Swenson realized her major responsibility was to sell the program as a permanent fixture at Weber State. The nursing program has since grown to be the largest in the state — with outreach programs in many Utah communities. Weber State students can now obtain recognition as licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and bachelor’s degree nurses in Weber State programs. T-SHIRTS*HATSeSWEAT SHIRTS KEY CHAINS*BANNERS GOLF SHIRTSeJACKETS*eMUGS AND MUCH MORE! ORDER BY FAX #627-3853 20 21