School of Nursing open house a success

Kayla Buffington and her mother, Lori, drove for two hours from Marshfield to La Crosse…on a school night.

Their reason? To check out Viterbo's School of Nursing.

Buffington, a junior at Marshfield High School, and her mother attended the School of Nursing's Open House on Nov. 4 at the Reinhart Center. Viterbo nursing faculty met with potential students to answer their questions about the various nursing programs on campus.

Approximately 13 interested visitors, ranging from high school students to professionals, attended the event at the Reinhart Center Board Room.

After meeting with professors, Buffington and her mother sat down to look through the free pamphlets and handouts offered at the open house. While enjoying a complimentary snack, Buffington told Lumen that she hopes to become a family nurse practitioner in the future, which will allow her to diagnose patients.

Buffington attended the Wisconsin College Fair in September and met with Viterbo's representative at the fair. After joining Viterbo's mailing list, Buffington received a flyer in the mail regarding the open house. Since she had never been to La Crosse, she and her mother decided to make the trip.

Based on their initial visit to the open house, Buffington and her mother were impressed with the Viterbo campus. Buffington appreciates Viterbo's status as a private school, where she feels she will have more one-on-one time with professors. At a larger university, she said, "I wouldn't be able to connect with the teachers as much."

Buffiington also plans to look at the nursing program at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and she's keeping her mind open to other universities as well. She's certain, though, that she'll apply to Viterbo next year.

Erin Liss of Coon Valley, Wis., also attended the event. Liss earned a bachelor's degree in microbiology at UW-La Crosse. She currently works at Accelerated Genetics in Westby. However, she has been considering a change of career as a nurse. When she saw the open house notice on Viterbo's website, "that was the push I needed," Liss said, smiling.

Liss used the open house opportunity to speak with some of her potential future professors. In between chats with the nursing faculty, Liss said that she's interested in Viterbo because the location is convenient.

Silvana Richardson, dean of the School of Nursing, said that convenience is a common factor for nursing students at Viterbo. The School of Nursing typically attracts students within a 100-mile radius. Other competing nursing programs in the area include UW-Eau Claire and Winona State University.

The open house was the first event of its kind for Viterbo's School of Nursing. To stay competitive with other programs, Richardson said Viterbo relies on campus visits to meet with interested high school students. Nursing faculty also attend professional conferences to recruit current nurses who might be interested in the BSN (Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing) completion program.

The open house, though, allowed nursing faculty to speak about all of their programs at the same time. Richardson said that the nursing faculty felt positive about the first open house.

"The consensus so far," she said, "is to do more of these events in the future."