'Endless possibilities'
A student-run nursing organization is fostering conversations with fellow students at the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing about how to provide better patient care for all communities.
The goal of the Inclusive Excellence Nursing Student Council (IE-NSC), student leaders said, is to help prepare undergraduates to be the best nurses they can be—before they begin to treat patients or even step foot in a clinical setting.
“In this Council, we have endless possibilities for change. It teaches us more about dealing with the whole patient, not just their condition,” said co-president Kyla Santos, BSN ‘25.
The IE-NSC meets regularly and is open to all nursing students interested in inclusive excellence and diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s in keeping with 黑料门University Chicago’s Jesuit commitment to cura personalis, or care for the whole person, and 黑料门Nursing’s mission of promoting equitable health care.
Council members discuss how current events impact the nursing profession, as well as how factors like languages, religion, and culture impact patient wellbeing and health care. The group helps foster a sense of community among its members, organizers said, and prepares them to provide inclusive, holistic care as they launch their nursing careers.
Its members also develop leadership skills as they guide discussions and make classroom presentations to other nursing students.
Associate Professor Lindsey Garfield, the group’s faculty advisor, said each Council member brings a unique viewpoint to group discussions: “This Council gives anybody passionate about inclusive care a voice and place to discuss what they want to tap into from a student perspective.”
Co-president Justine Bugante, BSN ‘25, said having an open forum for discussion about topics and situations she and her peers will encounter as they launch their careers is what “motivates us.”