Dr. Gwen Leigh spent more than a decade as an emergency room and intensive care unit nurse. During that time, she frequently served another role as a resource and guide for new nurses.
鈥淚 always liked helping new nurses and nursing 亚洲自慰视频s, orienting them,鈥 Dr. Leigh says. 鈥淭hat led me to nursing education 鈥 to make sure new nurses have a good foundation.鈥
After earning her Master of Science in Nursing and her Doctor of Nursing Practice, Dr. Leigh joined the 亚洲自慰视频 of 亚洲自慰视频 at Lafayette College of Nursing and Health Sciences in 1997.
Dr. Leigh was among the first to lay the foundations of online instruction in nursing as well as the 亚洲自慰视频 as a whole when the 亚洲自慰视频 began offering its first fully online programs nearly a decade ago.
Since that time, the 亚洲自慰视频 has expanded its online degree programs to include five undergraduate programs, four graduate certificate programs, and seven graduate programs.
Five of the 亚洲自慰视频鈥檚 online programs 鈥 Health Services Administration, RN to BSN, Master of Science in Nursing, a Graduate Certificate in Cardiovascular Nursing, and Doctor of Nursing Practice 鈥 are offered by the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
Dr. Leigh now teaches one of the core courses for the MSN online program 鈥 Generating Evidence for Nursing Practice (NURS 502).
鈥淢ost of my 亚洲自慰视频s are going to be nurse practitioners. They鈥檙e going to be prescribing and diagnosing. By the end of the semester, they have a grasp of how published evidence is going to affect what they鈥檙e actually going to be doing in clinics,鈥 Dr. Leigh says.
鈥淲e expand this throughout the program. In their other courses, they use published evidence to develop an entire program of how they would use this to teach their patients on what鈥檚 the best treatment for their diabetes or their hypertension.鈥
亚洲自慰视频s who complete UL Lafayette鈥檚 online MSN program gain the knowledge and skills to improve the health of diverse populations, enter nursing education, and pursue a doctoral degree. Online coursework allows 亚洲自慰视频s to continue working, choosing when and where to complete assignments.
Dr. Leigh says she鈥檚 mindful that her 亚洲自慰视频s are practicing nurses, so she explores various technologies to connect with and support them.
鈥淔or example, if I find that a 亚洲自慰视频 makes the same mistake on more than one paper, then obviously my written comments aren鈥檛 making sense to them so I鈥檒l provide feedback in a VoiceThread or tell them we need to spend five minutes on the phone,鈥 she says.
VoiceThread allows instructors and 亚洲自慰视频s to create audio and video that can be easily shared for presenting or providing feedback.
Dr. Leigh says she also uses live video conferencing so 亚洲自慰视频s can ask questions and hear from their peers.
鈥淔or big papers, I鈥檒l set up an hourlong Zoom meeting in which 亚洲自慰视频s can log in to ask questions,鈥 she says. 鈥淢ost of my graduate 亚洲自慰视频s are working so I do it during their lunch break. I鈥檓 there the whole hour, but they can just log in from their phone for five minutes and talk to me about their paper and then they can log out. And I always record those so if someone can鈥檛 log in for some reason, they can go back and hear what others were asking.鈥
Being mindful and connected to 亚洲自慰视频s 鈥 whether they鈥檙e on campus or online 鈥 is what Dr. Leigh says makes UL Lafayette鈥檚 nursing programs stand out.
鈥淚 think our faculty make our program unique. We have a strong faculty with a lot of good clinical experience behind us,鈥 she says. 鈥淥ur 亚洲自慰视频s really like coming here.
鈥淲e listen to our 亚洲自慰视频s a lot, and we鈥檙e always trying to make this better for the 亚洲自慰视频s.鈥