ASU nursing students take leadership roles, represent the university on statewide board
Nursing students were elected to the 2018-2019 Student Nurses Association of Arizona Board of Directors.
Photo courtesy: Amanda Foster
Editor’s note: This story was written by Cheryl Schmidt, College of Nursing and Health Innovation clinical professor.
Over the past two years, nursing students from the College of Nursing and Health Innovation have taken on numerous leadership roles in the Student Nurses Association of Arizona.
The organization’s mission is to “expand the horizons for student nurses and positively contribute to the health care community.” It also provides professional and mentorship opportunities plus a network of resources for students entering the field.
On the 2017-2018 board, Nadia Hamilton served as secretary and Brad Christmas served as the legislative affairs director. Both Nadia and Brad are enrolled in the Concurrent Enrollment Program while completing their ADN at Glendale Community College.
During the National Student Nurses’ Association 2018 Convention in April, Brad authored a resolution to educate students all over the country about the differences in cardiovascular disease between men and women. His resolution was passed by the NSNA House of Delegates and was disseminated to several professional nursing organizations.
Also serving on the 2017-2018 Board were two Post-Baccalaureate students. Stefanie Briscoe served as the community outreach director and Tiffany Mayes served as director of membership. Both Stefanie and Tiffany will graduate with their BSN in December.
Pre-nursing student Mariah Porritt served on the SNAAZ communication committee as webmaster. She was elected to serve as treasurer for the 2018-2019 Board of Directors and was officially admitted to the CONHI nursing program for the fall.
Five more ASU students were elected to the SNAAZ 2018-2019 Board of Directors. Christina Worley, the new SNAAZ president, is completing her ADN at Estrella Mountain Community College while enrolled in the ASU Concurrent Education Program to complete her BSN.
Michael Wald was elected as secretary, and his wife, Jessica Wald was elected as the director of communications. Rachel Mickelson was elected to serve as newsletter editor and Jared Posey was elected to serve as the community outreach director.
Two ASU faculty members serve as consultants for SNAAZ: Cheryl Schmidt and Amanda Foster. Schmidt has served as a local and state consultant in four previous states since 1970 and at the national level since 1970. Foster served as a member, then chair of the NSNA Nominations and Elections Committee. She now serves as chair of the American Nurses Association Nominations Committee, and president of the Emerging Nurse Professionals Special Interest Group of the Arizona Nurses Association.