Moon Twp., PA (May 7, 2010) —The Heritage Valley Sewickley School of Nursing is celebrating National Nurses Week by showcasing the volunteerism and academic excellence of its students. Annually, National Nurses Week begins on May 6, marked as RN Recognition Day, and ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of nursing as a modern profession.

Throughout the entire year, the Heritage Valley Sewickley School of Nursing students focused on the health of the community through participation as volunteers for a variety of causes and events. The School’s Student Leadership Council engaged in extra-curricular activities that centered primarily on service and the desire to succeed. Students performed blood pressure screenings at health fairs, administered vaccines during H1N1 vaccination campaigns and held fundraisers that benefited the Union Aid Society during Thanksgiving, Planet Aid in celebration of Earth Day, and the Haiti Disaster Relief. Additionally, they volunteered with World Vision, an Aleppo Township non-profit that services poor and oppressed populations in 150 countries.

“Our students have shown a special commitment to the community through their acts of service this year,” said Marilu Piotrowski, director of the Heritage Valley Sewickley School of Nursing. “Many students enrolled in the program balance family responsibilities and have part-time or full-time jobs. The fact that they also took time to focus on the community shows real dedication to the principles of the nursing profession.”

The Heritage Valley Sewickley School of Nursing, located in Moon Township, offers a hospital-based nursing diploma program affiliated with LaRoche College, Pittsburgh for the non-nursing courses. It prepares graduates to seek licensure as registered nurses and to function as beginning practitioners in acute, intermediate, ambulatory and long-term healthcare services and settings.

Students also displayed academic excellence while participating in the third annual Student Nurse Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) Challenge. The event was sponsored by Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Citizen’s General Hospital. The students pictured below competed against six other nursing schools from southwestern Pennsylvania. They performed successfully in four out of five rounds of academic competition that consisted of nine questions tailored to simulate the nursing licensure test format. Faculty members Victoria Graham and Vicki Lauffer are serving as the student advisors this year.