Nursing at the Capitol!

Hello and welcome to the nursing blog for Iowa Lakes Community College. I am very exicted to be starting this blog and to journal about the happenings in the nursing program. The Associate Degree Nursing students just returned from a day at the Capitol. It was exciting and a great way for the students to get involved politically. Many of the students had an opportunity to discuss their concerns with Senator Jack Kibbie and with Representative Marcy Frevert one on one. The legislators were thrilled to see 45 students from Iowa Lakes and posed for many pictures. I will try to post some later. The students concerns ranged from the large difference in pay between Iowa and boarding states and what is being done about it, to low reimbursement rates for Medicare in Iowa and the nursing shortages state wide. We also learned about how the Iowa Nurses Assocation is involved politically and what new things they are working on for the upcoming year. The Practical Nursing students are busy finishing up labs and will be starting clinical very soon. Some have all ready started, so this is a busy time of year for everyone in nursing. The Dimension students will be finishing up their preceptorships, which have been a great learning experience for the students, preceptors and instructors at Iowa Lakes. I hope this gives you a different perspective on nursing and spurns your interest for more information. Feel free to e-mail at any time with questions and I will talk to you again soon.