Mars Hill University Nursing Students Spend the Summer on the Job

Three nursing students in Mars Hill University’s Judge-McRae School of Nursing will spend the summer learning from and working with nurses at the Charles George Veterans Administration hospital in Asheville.

Katie Williams of Arden, NC, Quenita Winston of Montreat, and Anastasiya Yeremenko of Asheville were selected for the VALOR Program at the Medical Center. VALOR, which stands for VA Learning Opportunities Residency, gives rising seniors in nursing schools the opportunity to work as residents in a clinical setting at a Veterans Administration medical facility.

The three women were among twenty-eight students from across the region who applied for four available VALOR positions at the Asheville medical center. The program begins in June and ends in August. The medical center encourages VALOR residents to return occasionally during the school year in order to maintain the connections they’ve made and refresh the skills developed over the summer.

Eileen Ferrell, who oversees the program for the Charles George VA, calls the VALOR program “by far, the most rewarding program for me,” of several that she coordinates in her role as a nursing professional development practitioner. The student residents will work side-by-side with a registered nurse preceptor who will oversee their training and clinical experience in a nursing specialty area such as critical care, operating room, or medical-surgical units.

“I have to brag,” said Ferrell, “we have the best preceptors; they take new students or new nurses under their wing and groom them to be the best of the best.”

The VALOR students will learn to do in-depth patient assessment, recognize changes, do skilled tasks, and become a respected member of the team. The 10-week summer residency involves class attendance, unit meetings, educational offerings, and a weekly journaling requirement. Armenthis Lester, public affairs officer for the medical center, says 95% of VALOR residents end up being hired by the Charles George VA for their first professional nursing position.

Mars Hill University (www.mhu.edu) is a private liberal arts institution offering over 30 baccalaureate degrees, as well as master’s degrees in criminal justice, elementary education, and management. The main campus is 20 minutes north of Asheville in Mars Hill, and the university’s Asheville Center for Adult and Graduate Studies is on Airport Road in Arden.

The Judge-McRae School of Nursing offers classes in the RN to BSN program at MHU’s Asheville graduate studies center, while the pre-licensure BSN program is offered in the Ferguson Health Sciences Center on the main university campus. The school’s BA in nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (www.ccneaccreditation.org). The Judge-McRae School of Nursing and Ferguson Health Sciences Center received support from GoldenLEAF Foundation.