Victor Valley College
The Journal
The Bi- Monthly Nursing School &Allied Health Newsletter
July 2, 2011· Volume 1 No. 1
Dr. Morris Speaks at Apple Valley High School
Story By
Roderick Gray
RamPage
Director of the Victor Valley
College Nursing & Allied
Health Programs, Dr. Joseph
Morris used a personal story
to frame his segment of a
speaking series at Apple Valley High School on March
23, 2011.
One hundred thirty senior
and sophomores in the Medical and Health Science Academy were provided with
career information in the
professional field of nursing,
and the prescribed regimen
of academic requirements
needed at VVC to propel
them into their future career
decisions.
“Dr. Morris and VVC are
vital partners for the Medical
and Health Science Academy
at AVHS,” said Academy
Coordinator Wendy Watt.
The Apple Valley Unified
School District program
targets at risk youths from
10th grade through 12th
grade, but tracks their academic progression up to the
sophomore year in college.
The students remain with the
same set of instructors
throughout their time at AV
high School and have
declared a specified career
interest in the medical health
industry.
“Nursing is the backbone
to the Healthcare industry,”
said AV student Ana Marie
Newell.
Many students who graduate from the academy have
future plans to attend VVC
and become candidates in the
School of Nursing, and some
peruse medical professions
in the military.
“The profession of Nursing
is very diverse. There are
many areas of practice to
choose from, and you have
so many opportunities to
give back to the community,” said Dr. Morris.
130 students in the Medical and Health Science Academy at
Apple Valley High School listen to VVC’s Dr. Morris lecture on
career preparations for the Healthcare industry.
Dr. Morris, Wendy Watt and Apple Valley
High School students speak about Nursing
“Dr. Morris and VVC are vital partners for the Medical and Health Science Academy at
AVHS,” said Academy Coordinator Wendy Watt.
Nursing & Allied Health Victor Valley College 18422 Bear Valley Road, Victorville, Ca 92392
ph: (760)245-4271 fax:(760) 951-5861
The Journal Victor Valley College
July 2, 2011 Page 2
Walk For Thought Raises Awareness
Story By
Johnna Myers
VVC Nursing
Student
On a windy Saturday
morning, March 26th, some
40 nursing students from all
four nursing processes
banded together to do the
“Walk 4 thought”, walking 5
miles in a show of strength
and support of family and
friends who have survived
and are living with a survivor
of a traumatic brain injury.
A traumatic brain injury
can result from a bomb or a
blast explosion such as those
suffered by United States
soldiers coming home from
Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan. A
TBI could also be caused by
drowning due to the lack of
oxygen to brain cells. However, the majority of TBI’s
are caused by a traumatic
blow to the head. The annual
event, “Walk 4 thought”
raises the awareness of TBI
and is organized by
“Brainstorming 4 us,” a nonprofit group founded by Lisa
Moss and Tanya Ison. Lisa
Moss’s husband suffered a
traumatic brain injury from a
motorcycle accident that left
him in a stage 6 coma.
contain paper, pens, hygienic
supplies, a T-shirt and most
Nursing Professor Alice Ramming and Nursing Students (Christi
McEntyer, Jonna Meyers, Lori Tooney, and Samie Smith Barber)
As a caretaker of a loved
one with a TBI Lisa said, “I
felt really frustrated with the
doctors who could not seem
to explain to me what was
going on with my husband’s
condition.”
She has since filled in
those gaps by doing her own
extensive research with doctors and hospitals who
helped her put together
“brain bags”. Brain bags
importantly, a book on what
happens to the brain when it
has experienced a traumatic
injury. The book is very detailed and written in layman’s term so family members will have a better understanding of what the brain
injury has done to their loved
one. It also provides a communication tool in talking to
doctors when getting their
loved ones needs met.
Since the founding of
“Brainstorming4us,” Lisa
Moss and Tanya Ison have
had public speaking engagements, numerous
fundraisers and their “brain
bags” are part of Loma
Linda’s patient teaching for
families of TBI. Loma
Linda University Hospital
sends “brain bags” home
with each family member
of a TBI patient. The success of “Brainstorming4us”
has expanded to surrounding hospitals in southern
California and also in Las
Vegas, Nevada due to
strong supporters such as
the Venetian and Palms
Casino.
Stacie Hodes, an organizer of “Brainstorming4us”
said, “we give hope to all our
families. That’s why we
hand out these bracelets that
state “expect miracles…
belief is everything”.
Brainstorming 4 us can be
reached at
“Brainstormin4us.com”.
VVC Nursing Students Travel to Utah for Annual Event
Story by
Elizabeth Davis
VVC Nursing
Student
Early in April, I was privileged to attend the National
Student Nurses' Association's
Annual Convention held in
Salt Lake City, Utah. On this
trip I learned about the critical role nurses play in healthcare development, and the
potential the nursing profession has to make an impact
on society.
Seeta Bocage and
Elizabeth Davis
Workshops such as “pharmokaraoke”, Nursing Leadership and Advocacy were all
entertaining as well as educational. The presenters discussed the nurse's role as
patient advocate, not only in
delivering high quality care,
but also in preventative
measures.
Through “Poster Presentations” several nursing researchers discussed how
their research would impact
care. While touring the University of Utah, the faculty
discussed advanced nursing
Nursing & Allied Health Victor Valley College 18422 Bear Valley Road, Victorville, Ca 92392
education specialties, opening a whole new world to the
novice nurse.
ph: (760)245-4271 fax:(760) 951-5861
The Journal Victor Valley College
July 2, 2011 Page 3
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
This section is dedicated to highlighting the nursing Alumni of VVC.
Their leadership and contributions to the community is worthy of acknowledgement
Marilyn Drone VVC School of Nursing Class of 1980
For 26 years I worked at Victor Valley Hospital. As a new graduate I worked in Critical care for 5 years
and became one of the first nurses to obtain a CCRN at Victor Valley Hospital. Next, I became a Patient
Educator, which I still consider to be the most rewarding. I went on to become the Chief Nursing Officer
and after that the Director of Quality and Risk Department and Assistant Administrator. Then in 2006, I
came to St. Mary’s Hospital as Director of Quality and Risk Department and then became the Chief Nursing Officer. Throughout my career I was at the bedside for 5 years and found my role to support nurse
leaders for patient care.
Jaimi Brandl VVC School of Nursing Class of 2006
Jaimi remembers that the nursing program was hectic and that it was a life changing event. She recalled
that Roman Curbelo and Cheri Jones were mentors. “They helped you learn and grow,” said Brandl. “As
a Registered Nurse I started as a bedside nurse in the IC, then became a preceptor, and now I am a Charge
Nurse for the ICU. But before I was an RN, I was a phlebotomy tech, lab tech and a monitor tech. I am
currently working at Desert Valley Hospital and attending Azusa Pacific University for my baccalaureate
degree. I am researching schools to attend for a Nursing Anesthetist Degree.
The Faculty Corner
iStan Simulator Provides Students with Real-Life Scenarios
Story By
Elizabeth Vandom
VVC nursing student
iStan, short for Standard
man, was recently purchased
by the Victor Valley Nursing
program. This mechanized
and computer driven human
manikin allows for unique
hands on experiences. Not
only does it allow students to
work as a team to resolve
medical emergencies, but is
also allows us, as student
nurses, to test our reactions
to stressful emergency situations without risking the
lives of those we wish to
serve.
Chris O'Meara of USA
Today wrote, “iStan is so
lifelike that medical personnel can feel his pulse, hear
his lungs breathe and see his
eyes dilate as a computer
program causes him to react
Photo Courtesy Wanda Novel Former RamPage Reporter
to different medical scenarios.”
Technology with the
knowledge and experience of
RN’s like Professor Truelove
combine in the simulation
lab to give detailed realistic
scenarios as well as to prepare us for emergency situations we may encounter in
the hospital environment.
With the use of Stan and
other innovative tools the
simulation lab will continue
to improve our education and
understanding of skills and
procedures needed in our
future as Registered Nurses.
In reference to the simulation lab Professor Terry
Truelove RN, MSN said,
“I anticipate that simulation
will improve many students’
Nursing & Allied Health Victor Valley College 18422 Bear Valley Road, Victorville, Ca 92392
chances for success. There
are a myriad of different
learning techniques. Current
teaching methods, including
lecture and lab, struggle to
meet many of these alternative learning techniques. In
addition, current teaching
addresses one of the domains
of learning: either the cognitive, or the psychomotor, or
the affective, but rarely more
than one of these domains
simultaneously. The advantage of simulation is that it
provides learning opportunities in all of the learning
domains, all at the same
time. This increases the
chances of success for those
students with alternative
Interested in purchasing
AD space to support this
news letter? Please contact
the Nursing Department at
760-245-4271 for more
details.
ph: (760)245-4271 fax:(760) 951-5861
The Journal Victor Valley College
July 2, 2011 Page 4
Seniors Give Back to Freshmen
Story By and Photo by
Roderick Gray
Rampage Special
Projects Editor
Nearly 60 men and women
Nursing Process 1 (NP1)
students attended the Victor
Valley College Nursing Program’s orientation luncheon
in the Student Activities
Center on Tuesday February
8.
The event was the senior
community leadership project of level four nursing
students Robin McKinley,
Melissa Goodman, Jilliann
Justice and Jennifer Fife.
“The opportunity for this
event came at the end of last
semester and we jumped at
the chance to get in and complete our service project
early,” Justice said.
A video presentation on the
importance of nursing as a
profession was shown and
provided a forum for personal testimonials from
nurses in the profession.
NP1 students were informed by the NP4 students
that the lectures were very
important.
“Keep your nose in your
book and get into a study
group to stay on top of it,”
McKinley said.
Jeanine Speakman, a Registered Nurse who is an
alumni faculty and NP1 Faculty for the VVC Nursing
Program said, “Look to your
left and to your right. These
will become your new family
members, because nursing is
a community effort; I
couldn’t do it on my own.”
The first semester of the
nursing program will be the
most intense period that
these students will embark
on.
This portion of the nursing
program was compared by
Nursing Level 4 students Robin McKinley, Melissa Goodman, Jillian Justice and Jennifer
Fife. (order of position may not reflect actual photo placement).
Speakman to a fulltime job.
Completion of general education courses are a prerequisite to entrance in the program, and it could take a
candidate up to two years
before entrance can be attained.
“Hard work will get you
through the door, but humility will help you sustain,”
said NP1 student Jonaye
Shanks.
For McKinley, Goodman,
Justice and Fife, though their
NP4 senior project is complete, there is still work
ahead of them throughout the
rest of the spring semester
before graduation.
“This is my dream. I was
meant to be a trauma nurse! I
can’t wait to slam meds
when my heart patients come
in. I don’t mind limbs barely
hanging on or blood; this is
who I am,” Fife said.
“Don’t take anything for
granted! Always pride your-
self for your hard work and
hold your head up. Study
hard and it will pay off for
you in the end,” Goodman
said.
ALUNMI GIVING
Your contributions are welcomed. All proceeds help support the student community service projects, pinning
ceremony, and the growth and development of the nursing department.
Please Contact:
The Victor Valley College Foundation in care of the
VVC School of Nursing at:
www.vvcfoundation.com
Peers Empowering & Educating Peers (PEEPs)
The PEEPs program is a volunteer program designed for nursing and allied health students enrolled at VVC. The intention of
the program is to provide supplemental support to students that
are having difficulty with comprehending the theoretical and
clinical concepts in nursing or the allied health programs…for
more information visit my PEEPs at
WWW.VVCPEEPS.PBWORKS.COM
Interested in purchasing this AD space to help support the nursing
program contact the nursing department at: 760.245.4271
Nursing & Allied Health Victor Valley College 18422 Bear Valley Road, Victorville, Ca 92392
ph: (760)245-4271 fax:(760) 951-5861