Prospective Students See Their Own “Pathway to Nursing” on Tour

Admissions recruiter Anna Stephen, center, shows off the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing simulation lab.

With a handful of prospective Chatham University undergraduates and their parents sitting in front of her, Anna Stephen stood at the front of a Falk Hall classroom and gave everyone a crash course on the Pathways to Nursing program, a collaboration with UPMC’s Shadyside School of Nursing that culminates in a Bachelor of Science in nursing degree.

Stephen, an admissions recruiter for nursing, called it the “best of three worlds:” students in the program immerse themselves in the full university experience, become registered nurses after spending three years learning from top-notch faculty, and they get to work in a clinical capacity during their fourth and final year while taking classes online.

The academic expectations in Pathways to Nursing are rigorous, she noted during the Friday afternoon presentation, but students can expect to receive help from faculty if they feel like they’re struggling.

“There’s a lot of support,” she said. “With all of the professors and faculty that are involved in your educational experience here at Chatham, it’s pretty difficult to slide by.”

After the presentation in Falk, Stephen directed the group to the Shadyside School of Nursing located in the historic Motor Square Garden building, which is located just minutes away from Chatham’s Shadyside campus.

Students get the full university experience, become registered nurses after three years, and work in a clinical capacity during their fourth and final year.

They toured the facilities the school offers, including human simulation labs where students can practice nursing skills before coming face-to-face with a patient. Stephen emphasized the school’s eagerness to get students real experience as soon as they’re ready.

“Some schools love to promote that they have a really excellent simulation lab, but a simulation can only teach you so much,” Stephen said while she stood in a wide classroom lined with hospital beds. “We just try to keep you here for a few weeks to master the skills and apply them to your clinical placements.”

Stephen explained that classes in that room will sometimes go through a case study, with a dummy patient sitting in the bed and a list of reasons he was in the “hospital.” One of the benefits of a program like the Shadyside School of Nursing, she said, is that classrooms like these are filled with the same type of equipment seen in real healthcare facilities.

Anna Stephen, second from right, explains how classroom sizes will look at the Shadyside School of Nursing.

Outside of the classrooms, there were also common areas for students to rest between classes, as well as computer labs. The walls in the hallways were lined with dozens of pictures showing graduating classes from the program going back decades.

“We like it a lot so far,” said a woman from Butler who was on the tour with her family. “Nothing quite beats your campus.”

She asked Stephen if any of the classes were taught by a teacher’s assistant, rather than a professor. 

“When it comes to a nursing diploma school, you have to be a nurse educator to teach,” Stephen said. “Most of the teachers or professors here have a master’s degree.” 

Wrapping up the tour in another classroom, Stephen said she encouraged people to look through all their options, emphasizing the hands-on experience offered by programs like Pathways to Nursing.

“It really takes away the stress of getting used to working in a hospital,” she said. “Suddenly entering into a field where you’re there 5-6 days a week — an environment that can be very stressful, can be very fast-paced – they try to make that transition as smooth as possible.”

Want to see the Shadyside School of Nursing for yourself and learn more about Pathways to Nursing? Sign up for the February 15th Nursing Academic Visit Day here.

Mick Stinelli is a Writer and Digital Content Specialist at Chatham University. His writing has previously appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and 90.5 WESA, and he has a BA in Broadcast Production and Media Management from Point Park University. Mick, a native of western Pennsylvania, spends his free time watching movies and playing music.