Volume 10 Issue 1 Fall 2022

TA B L E O F
CONTENTS
3 Veronica Phillipson
What will you find in the Scope?

4 Kayla Pavlock
Exploring Internships in Women’s Health

5 Emma Petro
Discovering a Passion for Critical Care Nursing
During a Summer Externship

6 Veronica Phillipson
Milestones to Celebrate as an Intern in the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

7 Kayla Davis
Finding a Specialty During Summer Externship
Banana bread Recipe by Student Kayla
Pavlock
NCLEX answer
8-9 Maura O’Neil
An Opportunity to Explore Italy -
Culture and Healthcare

10 Katherine Kane
Maymester in Rome: Cultural Immersion
Experience

11 Olivia Lavin
Study Abroad - Experience of a Lifetime

12 Homecoming and Family

Weekend Autumnfest

13 Meetings & Credits

NCLEX question
Center for Student Well Being Information
DUSNA Board of Directors

Student Ysabell Katigbak 14 Funny Nursing Jokes

DUSNA President
NCLEX answer
Family Centered Care in Military Veterans
Interest in writing for the Scope
with PTSD

NEWS MAGAZINE 2
EDITORIAL

What will you

find in The
Scope?

T
he Scope is a magazine which publishes articles featuring the
perspective of nursing students and faculty. My name is Ve-
ronica Phillipson, and I am the Publicity Chair of the Student
Nurses Association of Duquesne University. I collaborated
with students and faculty to create The Scope. This edition of
the Scope highlights the summer opportunities for Duquesne
student nurses whether it be interning or studying abroad in Rome.
The Student Nurses’ Association of Pennsylvania awarded The
Scope in 2013, 2014, and 2016 the Excellent Newsletter Award.
Past President Morgan Gruender and Vice President Emily Chur-
chill established this awarded piece of work. The National Stu-
dent Nurses’ Association awarded The Scope with the Newsletter
Excellence Award in 2020. Past Vice President Lauren Bliss and
Veronica Phillipson Publicity Chair Hadley Mueller continued excellence of the Scope.
DUQUESNE SCHOOL OF NURSING As nursing students, we have unique experiences to share with
CLASS OF 2023 others. Whether this be an incredible internship in the operating
Publicity Chair room, a fantastic class experience with a professor, a proficient
score on an exam, or a rapid response observation at clinical,
the stories told are for the Duquesne University School of Nurs-
ing community to reflect on and learn from. The goal is to con-
tinue this newsletter and to make The Scope a magazine that all
Duquesne nursing students should be proud.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this newsletter. Please
email all comments and questions to me at phillipsonv@duq.edu.
Letters to the editor must include your name, contact informa-
tion, and major.
The views expressed in The Scope are individual and do not
represent the views of Duquesne University or Duquesne Univer-
sity School of Nursing. I look forward to producing inspiring work
that shares memorable stories.
Best,

Veronica Phillipson

NEWS MAGAZINE 3
 Exploring Nurse Interships in Women’s Health

KAYLA PAVLOCK
DUQUESNE SCHOOL OF NURSING
CLASS OF 2023

C
linical experience
is where classroom
theory is applied to
the real world. Bed-
side nursing does
not come easily to
all students because it can be hard
to find comfort and confidence with-
out practice. Clinical experience op-
timizes a student nurse’s education
and experience before getting into
the profession of taking care of peo-
ple. Since the pandemic resulted in
online clinical days, I wanted to find
other ways to get more experience
in nursing so that I could grow as a
future nurse. So, this past summer,
I took the opportunity to work as a
Student Nurse Intern (SNI) at UPMC
Magee Women’s Hospital. Although
I was hesitant to venture into this
new position and job due to my lack
of experience, I could not be more
pleased with the outcome. I worked
as an intern on labor and delivery,
postpartum, and high-risk antepar-
tum. During my 10-week internship,
I learned countless valuable lessons,
skills, and assessments that I will car-
ry with me throughout my nursing
career. As an SNI, I shadowed a nurse
throughout their entire 12-hour shift
and mirrored their exact schedule.
Doing this helped me understand
what bedside nursing really is, and
how the roles and skills can vary from
unit to unit. During my internship,
I saw a variety of patients and situa-
tions. I saw emergency C-sections,
premature deliveries, planned induc-
tions, OB ICU patients, 20-minute la-
bor and 12-hour labor. I took several
trips to the Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit (NICU) and other parts of the
hospital, which allowed me to see
how these units are there for each
other. I loved the possibility of seeing
something different each day and the
adrenaline that came along with these
situations. I also enjoyed seeing the
teamwork between the people who
worked on these units and recognizing
that it is essential to have supportive
relationships in healthcare. Ultimately,
my favorite part was being a part of
such a unique time in someone’s life.
I spent time with families and babies
before, during, and after their delivery.
Going through all these units created
a full-circle effect for me and showed
me the many possibilities within the
obstetrics world. I am so grateful for
my internship experience because I
am more confident in myself as a fu-
ture nurse. I would recommend this
kind of additional clinical experience
to anyone in the medical field because
you will get an idea of what you love
and improve the skills needed to be a
successful healthcare professional.

“I am so grateful for my internship

experience because I am more
confident in myself as a future nurse.”

NEWS MAGAZINE 4
Discovering a Passion for Critical Care Nursing
During a Summer Externship

EMMA PETRO
DUQUESNE SCHOOL OF NURSING
CLASS OF 2023

M
y name is Emma Petro, and I am a senior nursing student at Duquesne
University. Over the summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to
have a nurse externship at Allegheny General Hospital in the med-
ical ICU. For ten weeks, I followed my preceptor during her 12-hour
shifts assisting in direct patient care and learning how a nurse oper-
ates throughout the shift. She and I became not just coworkers, but
great friends which made working much more enjoyable. The medical ICU is very respira-
tory based with many patients having respiratory failure or pneumonia. Almost all patients
in the 30-bed unit were on a ventilator with invasive monitoring and a copious number of
drips for blood pressure support and sedation. Before the nurse externship, I always had an
interest in critical care. During the pandemic, hearing about those not being able to be with
their loved ones drove me to be the one at the bedside when no one else could. Throughout
the externship, I saw patients and families during the worst day of their lives. Performing
CPR as the family watched countless nurses and physicians attempt to save them was all too
familiar. However, experiencing these traumatic events did not turn me away from the pas-
sion I have developed for critical care nursing. For the positive outcomes, emerging out of a
life-threatening situation to tell the family their loved one is now stable fills me with a rush
of adrenaline and confidence. As my externship ended, I was offered to stay on the unit as a
patient care technician (PCT). The friendships I made during the summer with the nurses and
ancillary staff remain to this day. In the future, I plan on pursuing critical care nursing. Without
my externship, I would have never realized my niche for taking care of the sickest patients
and being present for their families.

“Without my externship, I would

have never realized my niche for
taking care of the sickest patients
and being present for their families.”

NEWS MAGAZINE 5
 MILESTONES TO CELEBRATE AS AN INTERN
IN THE NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

VERONICA PHILLIPSON
DUQUESNE SCHOOL OF NURSING
CLASS OF 2023
PUBLICITY CHAIR

A
s a Duquesne Uni-
versity nursing
student, I had the
opportunity to
work at UPMC Ma-
gee-Womens Hos-
pital as a student nurse intern in the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
over the summer before my senior
year. The internship was 10-weeks,
one-on-one with a preceptor. I ap-
plied for the internship in the NICU
because I loved to feed the babies
during my Maternal Newborn clini-
cal rotation on the postpartum unit.
I was so excited to gain experience
in the specialty of neonatal nursing.
I learned how to perform neonatal
care, physical assessments, priori-
tize patient and family needs, and
critically think. I took care of babies
who were born as early as 22 weeks
to full term 40 weeks and anywhere
in between. On my first day on the
unit, I got to see an extubation for
the first time. I remember feeling
overwhelmed during the proce-
dure because I never thought that
I would see a baby with a breath-
ing tube on my first day. As the
internship went on, I learned how
encouraging it was for the baby
and the family to experience this
milestone. Later in the internship,
I observed the nurse and resident
physician perform an exchange
transfusion for a newborn with a
severely high bilirubin level. Many
new nurses on the unit came to
watch this procedure as well be-
cause it is rarely performed. My
favorite experience was learning
how to manually give breaths to an
intubated baby. Every new experi-
ence elevated my confidence as a
student nurse. In the NICU, some of
the babies and families may have
a hospital stay for over 100 days.
I like the fact that you can build a
connection with the families you
are taking care of. You get to watch
them grow and achieve milestones
that help them get closer to going
home. To name a few, the baby may
be working on gaining weight, tri-
aling off ventilation, or beginning
breastfeeding. Every little mile-
stone is a huge victory and should
be celebrated. By the end of the
internship, I decided that I want to
pursue the specialty of NICU nurs-
ing because I enjoy taking care of
the babies and watching them
grow. I am grateful for this intern-
ship and every opportunity that I
have been afforded as a Duquesne
student nurse. I can’t wait to begin
working as a NICU nurse!

“By the end of the internship, I

decided that I want to pursue the
specialty of NICU nursing because I
enjoy taking care of the babies and
watching them grow.”

NEWS MAGAZINE 6
 Finding a Specialty During Summer Externship
KAYLA DAVIS
DUQUESNE SCHOOL OF NURSING
CLASS OF 2023
T
his past summer I had the opportu-
nity to be a nurse extern on a crit-
ical care unit. The unit was similar
to a step-down unit from the In-
tensive Care Unit (ICU). We received
patients that did not require ICU
level care; however, were not deemed well
enough to transfer to a medical-surgical floor.
Although the unit was a step-down unit, we
did get a lot of ICU overflow where we would
have almost a full unit of ICU level patients.
Throughout my time on the unit, I not only
learned and experienced a lot, but I also grew
more confident in my skills and assessments.
Before my externship, I still felt nervous to go
into a patient room to do a full head-to-toe as-
sessment alone. By the end of the externship,
I often wonder why I was so nervous or un-
sure of my abilities. When I first accepted the
position in the critical care unit, I felt nervous
because I had never experienced caring for
patients who required such an intense level of
care. It is vital for the nurse to think and act
rapidly to increase the likelihood of a posi-
tive outcome. Going into my externship, I was
confident that I already knew what specialty
of nursing I wanted to pursue. I wanted to do
my externship in critical care for two reasons
(1) I would have the opportunity to learn and
experience a lot throughout the summer, and
(2) it is something that will push me out of my
comfort zone to see and do new things that I
may not have been able to do at clinical. I did
not expect to completely change my original
plan for my nursing career. I began to steer
more toward the critical side of nursing which
was the opposite of what I originally thought
I would do.
NEWS MAGAZINE
There is one patient experience that truly
stuck out to me that I will hold onto forever,
and one of the reasons I wanted to switch my
career path to critical care. The patient had
walked into the hospital with the primary
complaint of a headache. He was later diag-
nosed with an acute kidney injury. I was as-
signed to this patient for all three of my shifts
that week, and each day was different than
the day prior. On my last shift for the week,
the patient was stable enough to transfer
back to a medical-surgical unit where he was
placed prior to his being on my unit where he
then sustained a traumatic brain injury from a
fall. He was then transferred back into the ICU
where he later developed a bowel obstruction
which led to him needing surgery. After the
surgery, he developed many complications
including multiple pulmonary effusions lead-
ing to severe pneumonia and c-diff. He was
then stable enough to be transferred back
to my unit. When he was first placed in the
unit, I was not assigned to his care; however, I
did assist with patient care. In doing so, I no-
ticed a significant decline in his health based
on his physical appearance. The next week I
was assigned to his care for again all three of
my shifts. Seeing how quickly and severely
the patient declined made me more passion-
ate about helping him get better or at least
more comfortable. The patient developed
many co-morbidities throughout his stay at
the hospital, making his case extremely com-
plex. Seeing the nursing staff work together
to advocate for what is best for the patient
and continually trying everything possible to
help benefit him made me realize that treat-
ing complex cases like this is something that
I look forward to being a part of in the future.
I am very grateful that I had the opportuni-
ty to do something like this over the summer.
This externship increased my confidence in
patient care and guided me to pick a special-
ty that I truly feel called to be a part of.
7
An Opportunity to Explore Italy - Culture and Healthcare

MAURA O’NEIL
DUQUESNE SCHOOL OF NURSING
CLASS OF 2024

   Duquesne University is one of the few nursing programs that

enable nursing students to study abroad. During this month-long pro-
gram, I was immersed in the Italian culture while completing required
nursing courses. The nursing students were enrolled in Baroque art his-
tory and a Cultural Nursing course. My art history course was a unique
experience as our classes were on-site in the city of Rome. When we
learned about the Trevor Fountain, we were actually AT the Trevi Foun-
tain! It was a break from our usual science-focused courses and allowed
us to be creative! During our nursing cultural course, we toured and
attended a healthcare conference at an Italian hospital to better un-
derstand their healthcare. As a public and global health minor, this was
amazing to see first-hand how other healthcare systems and hospitals
are run.

NEWS MAGAZINE 8
 M AY M E S T E R : V I N E YA R D S I N T U S C A N Y A N D B E A C H E S I N P I O P P I

Aside from the academics of the Maymester, the sights that Italy has to offer
made this trip so wonderful! It was encouraged to go and explore and become
adapted to life in Italy. The others and I were able to navigate through Rome by
public transportation and adapted to the way of life quite quickly. A cappuccino in
the morning and an espresso for a midday pick-me-up was a common routine! The
excursions allowed me to see various parts of Italy. I saw vineyards in Tuscany and
the beaches in Pioppi. The group was able to participate in a wine tasting, touring
buffalo mozzarella farms, and my favorite – shopping! Florence was my favorite
because it was filled with incredible shops, restaurants, and sites to see. During our
free weekend, I went to Venice and got to check riding in a gondola off my bucket
list! I made some lifelong friends along the way. Kelly Gullo and I had the time of
our lives on this trip and just still cannot stop talking about our time there! It is
hard to sum up my entire time in Italy in a short article, but it was time I will never
take for granted. I would recommend this study abroad to all Duquesne University
nursing students as this Maymester was the trip of a lifetime!

NEWS MAGAZINE 9
 Maymester in Rome: Cultural Immersion Experience

KATHERINE KANE
DUQUESNE SCHOOL OF NURSING
CLASS OF 2023

T
his summer I
had the privi-
lege of study-
ing abroad at
D u q u e s n e ’s
campus in
Rome, Italy as part of the
School of Nursing’s Mayme-
ster program. This 4-week
program stretches from the
middle of May through early
June, and it is specifically de-
signed for nursing students
who want to study abroad.
It is a more flexible option
because the Maymester pro-
gram does not interfere with
clinical courses since the trip
happens at the end of the
spring semester. Being in a
foreign country for a month
was a stupendous experi-
ence that allowed me to feel
engulfed in the culture and
not simply a tourist.
While abroad, I took cours-
es in Cultural Applications
of Nursing and Baroque Art.
Most of my classes took place
in the multitude of museums
and churches of Rome, but I
also traveled to Florence and
the Tuscan countryside as
well as southern Italy for ac-
ademic excursions.
I also spent a lot of my free
time further exploring Rome.
My favorite activities in Rome
included going to an authen-
tic Italian cooking class, see-
ing Pope Francis during the
papal audience, and climbing
the dome of St. Peter’s Basili-
ca to overlook all of Rome. Ev-
eryone was so welcoming to
us as American students and
I truly felt immersed in their
culture and language. Study-
ing abroad encouraged me to
further develop my indepen-
dence, think on my feet, and
problem solve which I think
are indispensable skills for
nurses.

“Studying abroad encouraged me to

further develop my independence, think on
my feet, and problem solve which I think are
indispensable skills for nurses.”

NEWS MAGAZINE 10
 Study Abroad - Experience of a Lifetime
OLIVIA LAVIN
DUQUESNE SCHOOL OF NURSING
CLASS OF 2023

H
VICE PRESIDENT

ello everyone! My name is Olivia Lavin, and
I am a senior nursing student this year. I am
also the Vice President of DUSNA! I wanted to
highlight the nursing Maymester Program in
Rome that I was able to be a part of this past
May. The Maymester program was something
that I will remember forever. It was an experience of a life-
time and something I think about every day. From the be-
ginning of my journey at Duquesne as a freshman, I knew
that one day I wanted to participate in study abroad, and
the Maymester was the perfect opportunity to fulfill this
dream. It was four weeks filled with new friendships, new
memories, new cultures and environments, and a ton of
learning and exploring! I explored the city, got to tour the
Vatican, went to St. Peter’s Basilica, ate SO much pizza and
pasta, and developed incredible relationships with the oth-
er students on the trip. Everyone became so close. We did
everything together.
I took two classes while abroad; Cultural in Nursing and
Baroque Art. Both were amazing experiences. My Cul-
tural Class included activities such as attending a national
healthcare conference at one of the hospitals in Rome. It
was interesting to see how the healthcare system of Italy
works because it is a little different than the healthcare sys-
tem in the United States. A majority of their hospitals are
public hospitals which offer free services to all citizens of
Italy. It was extremely intriguing to learn and tour this hos-
pital, and it showed me what it means to be an open and
My baroque art class was one of my favorite class-
es I have taken throughout college. We were able to
go to most of the museums in Rome and dove head
first into the art of Caravaggio, Michelangelo, and
Bernini.
During this experience, we also had weekends
away to travel throughout Italy. Some of the places
I went to included Florence, Tuscany, Salerno, Paes-
tum, and other small towns along the Amalfi Coast.
Throughout these weekend trips, we learned about
the different cultures within the different parts of It-
aly. This experience is something that I am extreme-
ly grateful for and is always going to be some of my
best memories. I encourage everyone to look into
their options for studying abroad, and the Nursing
Maymester is the absolutely perfect way for nursing
students to get a study abroad experience. I prom-
ise this experience will change your life just as it did
mine!!

NEWS MAGAZINE 11
 Homecoming & Family Weekend 2022
Autumn Fest

Homecoming 2022 was the first year that family weekend and homecoming
weekend were combined! Every year, before and during the homecoming football
game, organizations on campus have the opportunity to set up a table on Aca-
demic walk. The tables have fun ways to raise money for their organization such
as activities, face painting, games to play, or fall desserts. Our table had a game
to guess the number of candy corn and win a target giftcard. We also had a raffle
basket with giftcards and halloween treats!

F U N D R A I S I N G , E M I LY C O B L I S H & S E C R E TA R Y, TAY L O R N I E B U R G

NEWS MAGAZINE 12
Meetings & Credits

Upcoming Meetings
November 7th at 9pm
December 5th at 9pm

Service Credit Opportunity Coming Up!

Santa’s Workshop in the Africa Room on November 11th
from 4:30-8:30pm DUSNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2022-2023

Wild Credit Opportunity! President - Rachel Cusick

Write an article for the next edition of the Scope Vice President - Olivia Lavin
Secretary - Taylor Neiburg & Mackenzie Wolff
Treasurer - Olivia Antonucci & Alivia Stumpf

NCLEX PRACTICE QUESTION Social - Isha Patel & Abby Fischer

Service - Mary Ballas & Olivia Hendricks
Fundraising - Emily Coblish
What is most important for the nurse to monitor for the first 24 hours Legislative Coordinator - Larisa Samryk
after birth in an infant born at 34 weeks’ gestation?
Recruitment - Emily Pagonis & Emma Parkhurst
a. Duration of cry Publicity - Veronica Phillipson
b. Respiratory distress
c. Poor PO intake
d. Infrequent bowel movements

NEWS MAGAZINE 13
 Funny Nursing Jokes
Patient: “Will I be able to play the piano after this operation?”
Nurse: “Sure! Of course!”
Patient: “That’s awesome because I couldn’t before!”

Why are night nurses such bad dancers?

Their circadian rhythm is off.

What’s it called when a hospital runs out of maternity nurses?

A midwife crisis

How was the nurse’s advice on Q-tips received?

It went inside one ear and out of the other.

NCLEX practice answer

Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Respiratory distress is common in a preterm infant related to lung immaturity: small lu-
men, respiratory muscle weakness, or alveolar dysfunction. The respiratory system is always the prio-
rity.

Interested in writing for the Scope?

I am always looking for new writers!
Contact Veronica Phillipson.
phillipsonv@duq.edu

NEWS MAGAZINE 14
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