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.
杏吧专区淚 always liked helping new nurses and nursing students, orienting them,杏吧专区 Dr. Leigh says. 杏吧专区淭hat led me to nursing education 杏吧专区 to make sure new nurses have a good foundation.杏吧专区
After earning her Master of Science in Nursing and her Doctor of Nursing Practice, Dr. Leigh joined the 杏吧专区 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 杏吧专区 as a whole when the 杏吧专区 began offering its first fully online programs nearly a decade ago.
Since that time, the 杏吧专区 has expanded its online degree programs to include five undergraduate programs, four graduate certificate programs, and seven graduate programs.
Five of the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 online programs 杏吧专区 Health Services Administration, RN to BSN, Master of Science in Nursing, a Graduate Certificate in Cardiovascular Nursing, and Doctor of Nursing Practice 杏吧专区 are offered by the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
Dr. Leigh now teaches one of the core courses for the MSN online program 杏吧专区 Generating Evidence for Nursing Practice (NURS 502).
杏吧专区淢ost of my students are going to be nurse practitioners. They杏吧专区檙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杏吧专区檙e actually going to be doing in clinics,杏吧专区 Dr. Leigh says.
杏吧专区淲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杏吧专区檚 the best treatment for their diabetes or their hypertension.杏吧专区
Students who complete UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 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 students to continue working, choosing when and where to complete assignments.
Dr. Leigh says she杏吧专区檚 mindful that her students are practicing nurses, so she explores various technologies to connect with and support them.
杏吧专区淔or example, if I find that a student makes the same mistake on more than one paper, then obviously my written comments aren杏吧专区檛 making sense to them so I杏吧专区檒l provide feedback in a VoiceThread or tell them we need to spend five minutes on the phone,杏吧专区 she says.
VoiceThread allows instructors and students 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 students can ask questions and hear from their peers.
杏吧专区淔or big papers, I杏吧专区檒l set up an hourlong Zoom meeting in which students can log in to ask questions,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淢ost of my graduate students are working so I do it during their lunch break. I杏吧专区檓 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杏吧专区檛 log in for some reason, they can go back and hear what others were asking.杏吧专区
Being mindful and connected to students 杏吧专区 whether they杏吧专区檙e on campus or online 杏吧专区 is what Dr. Leigh says makes UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 nursing programs stand out.
杏吧专区淚 think our faculty make our program unique. We have a strong faculty with a lot of good clinical experience behind us,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淥ur students really like coming here.
杏吧专区淲e listen to our students a lot, and we杏吧专区檙e always trying to make this better for the students.杏吧专区