Patho introduced me to many disease processes that may affect individuals across their entire life span. As an incoming nursing student I understood basic definitions of what some of the more common disease processes were. However, this class introduced me to many different diseases of each body system, their definitions, risk factors for acquiring such disease, manifestations of that disease, treatment, and if applicable, the prevention of that disease. This class was one of the hardest classes I have had at Longwood, especially in the nursing program. I really had to push myself to keep my grade around an A and be the student I knew I could bd. Furthermore, I feel like this class helped to emphasize the importance of organization, dedication, and time management that is necessary as not only a nursing major but as a nurse as well.
I had the opportunity to enhance this class as part of my honors requirement for the Cormier Honors College. For this enhancement I worked alongside two other students to analyze the effectiveness of education of nursing students perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine. We provided education to sophomore nursing students with an optional pre and post-test to determine how effective our education was. Our education included general vaccination knowledge, COVID-19 information, COVID-19 vaccines, pros, cons, and myths of the vaccines, and nurses perceptions in Virginia. As a nurse, communication is important in patient education. Through this project, I was able to recognize aspects of my communication skills that need further improvement in the future. However, this project also allowed me to draw from my previous knowledge of communication skills to present this research in a manner that was appropriate for my audience. The more individuals that are educated on medical knowledge, such as vaccination, will help our community make more informed decisions regarding their medical decisions and this is exactly what our group was aiming for in this project. We presented our research and conclusions at the spring student showcase. You can find the PowerPoint to our student presentation given to students as well as our poster with our conclusions below.