BU partnership with B. Braun Medical continues virtually

Bloomsburg University’s partnership with B. Braun Medical of Allentown is a special one that dates to the inception of the university’s Bachelor of Applied Science in Technical Leadership (BASTL) program. Braun, which currently employs four BASTL graduates, was one of the founding businesses that helped create the program in 2012. To further strengthen the relationship between BU and B. Braun, BASTL alum and current B. Braun supervisor Michael Greer ’17 and BU faculty member Julie Ambrose devised a way for students to learn directly from those in the business world. Students have visited Braun since the fall of 2018 as a regular part of their Instructional design and leadership capstone II classes.

“Reinforcing our classroom experience with a corporate site visit has been invaluable to the students. B. Braun employees show them how what they’re learning applies in a work setting,” Ambrose said. “We appreciate that support from B. Braun.” Leaning on their business experience, a panel from B. Braun advises BASTL students on their instructional design and leadership capstone II projects. The spring semester leadership capstone project is a prime opportunity for the students to showcase what they’ve learned through the program before graduation.

The students’ most recent visit scheduled for March 26 was nearly canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place order from the governor. However, recognizing that the real-life experience of holding a large-scale virtual meeting would also have value, Greer and the Bloomsburg faculty worked quickly to change the event from an in-person meeting to a virtual one.
“Sometimes difficult situations can provide unseen opportunities,” Greer said. Approximately 20 students attended the event, and each project team had a chance to present and receive feedback from Braun’s advisory panel. And because it was virtual, students who normally couldn’t attend were able to participate. BASTL students from the following partner campuses were represented: Bucks County Community College, Community College of Philadelphia, Lehigh Carbon Community College, Northampton Community College, as well as Bloomsburg’s main campus.

“It was great hearing the B. Braun team’s feedback to the questions we had,” said senior Ethan Westerhold. “It provided us with valuable insight as we move forward.” In attendance were BU faculty members Jessica Briskin, Julie Ambrose, and Bryan Sidwar ’01/’15M.
Braun’s panel consisted of business unit manager Eric Leayman, production supervisors Bradly Lundquist ’19 and Michael Greer ’17, project engineer Thomas Sutliff ’17, and operational excellence leader Joe Marcone.
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Physics Professor and Student Produce Face Shields to Donate

Dr. John Huckans, professor of Physics, and James "Jimmy" Catarroja, physics and EET major, have been busy producing approximately 100 face shields to help in the fight against COVID-19.  They have been using three separate 3D printers to make the shields.  Two of the printers are owned by the BU Physics Department and the third is on loan from Ginny Weibel of The Bloomsburg Children's Museum.  The face shields  will  delivered to the BU police department, who will then transport them to Geisinger Hospital in Danville.  Dr. Huckans and Jimmy Cararroja plan to continue to make the face shields as long are they are needed and are also planning to make more for area emergency services. 

 

 

Dr. Kokoska Helps Local High School Students Through AP Calculus Zoom Session

On Wednesday, April 15, Dr. Stephen Kokoska, Professor of MADS participated in a zoom meeting with students in the Advanced Placement Calculus classes from Central Columbia High School. Dr. Kokoska is a former AP Calculus Chief Reader and is a member of the AP Calculus Development Committee. During the meeting, Dr. Kokoska took student questions and presented some of the common students errors that occur on the AP exam.  The meeting was attended by 44 students from the Calculus 1 and Calculus 2 courses at central, taught by Mr. Jeff Osborne.  This year's exam will be given in a completely new online format because of concerns due to the coronavirus. 
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Student Nurses to Complete Clinicals Through New Computer Simulation Software

Bloomsburg University nursing students now have a new tool to assist them progress through their academic course work, despite not being onsite in a hospital for clinicals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Computer simulation software was purchased to allow both undergraduate and graduate nursing students to complete courses they are taking and allow seniors to graduate on time. BU was able to use simulation only because the students were 54 to 61 percent completed with their face to face clinical and theory courses. The decision to go to simulation was not made lightly, and it is not meant as a complete substitute for nursing clinical training.

BU nursing faculty member Kim Olszewski, Breiner Family Endowed Professor of Nursing, suggested purchasing the software through funds provided by Ed and Julie Breiner. Nursing administration expedited the purchase.

“We are so grateful to the generosity of the Breiner family,” said Susan Fetterman, chair of BU’s Department of Nursing. “Without them, we would need to extend into the summer months for most of our students versus the few that are extended for clinical currently. They have our sincere thanks.”

“We are honored to be able to help with the purchase of this software,” said Julie Breiner. “Society is seeing now first-hand how valuable it is to have properly trained nurses. Since BU nursing students cannot complete the normal clinical process, this is the next best way to continue their education and give our highly trained faculty a way to educate them.”

Each of the software programs purchased will simulate different scenarios, according to Susan Fetterman, chair of BU’s Department of Nursing. “The programs are a computerized illustration of a patient. The student and virtual patient can both ask and answer questions regarding symptoms, location of the symptom, and the responses are evaluated as to what is the best response by the student and why,” said Fetterman. “It is a complicated system that allows the faculty to evaluate the student’s ability to take care of a patient with specific pathology. Most importantly, it allows the students to learn how to interact with patients as well as what symptoms to look for and understand for certain pathologies.”

For graduate students, one of the programs purchased, Shadow Health, will have a big impact.
“This program is an avatar that students interact with to do specific health assessments (digital clinical experiences),” said Olszewski.  “As the student speaks to the avatar to develop a patient history, and do the exam, it will record the dialogue and provide immediate feedback to the student. This program enables student nurses to do a head to toe exam with an avatar, and the program provides the learner with immediate feedback on how to improve their skills.”

Bloomsburg University is consistently ranked in the top 10 of nursing programs in the state by a variety of organizations. BU offers multiple quality nursing degree programs, including a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), and the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). Bloomsburg also offers RN to BSN and RN to BSN to MSN programs, which allow registered nurses to obtain the BSN and MSN online in a condensed timeframe.
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