Nevada Nursing Student Association (NVNSA): The Message Behind the Name 

By Janai McFarland, LPN 
 

 A question was presented during a recent board meeting of the Nevada Nursing  Student Association (NVNSA). Why are we called the Nevada Nursing Student  Association (NVNSA) when our school chapters refer to themselves as the Student  Nurses’ Association (SNA)? The National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) identifies  over 100 national and state-level associations composed of nursing students (State  Association/School Chapter Links, n.d.). However, only a third of the associations refer  to themselves as nursing student associations (NSAs). This question aroused my  curiosity as I pinned it on my ever-growing list of research topics. What is the difference  between being referred to as a ‘student nurse’ vs. a ‘nursing student’? To answer this  question fully requires a deep dive into the history of nursing.  
 

 Traditionally, throughout history, the role of nurses has progressed from being  assigned women family members who developed their art through self-establishment  and reliance on oral history into consecrated groups of church-going women, called  deaconesses, who were tasked to staff existing hospitals (Roux & Halstead, 2017).  Therefore, Florence Nightingale, the “founder” of nursing, had a strong background in  deaconess training. Deaconess training was inspired by the will to serve God through  caring for the sick, poor, and orphaned (Doyle, 1929) and led to advancements in the  nursing profession (Hall et al., 2023), which Nightingale combined with previously  acquired knowledge to pioneer the first formal nursing school by coupling theory classes  with clinical experience (Roux & Halstead, 2017). Thereby, Nightingale provided foundational and scaffolding elements to the nursing profession.  
 

 However, with womanhood being entwined into the nursing profession, nurses were  historically portrayed as subordinates to the male-dominated physician profession. They  even developed an image misrepresentation that led to fetishism and perpetuated  covert/overt oppression. Harmes et al. (2021) highlighted the multiple oppressive  systems linked to nurses as patriarchy, ageism, ableism, and educational hierarchies.  Therefore, with the nursing profession well past its sesquicentennial birthday, its identity  would benefit from some modernizations of antiquated scaffolding.  
 

 Furthermore, with the status of healthcare declining and nurses old and anew  leaving the profession in droves, what can we as nursing students do to change this  post-pandemic downward spiral and promote professional respect and dignity? While a  complete overhaul of name changes within school nursing students’ associations to  support and catalyze this idea would be supreme, it is not reasonable due to the  enormous marketing and financial roadblocks that could surface. Therefore, my  proposal requires each and every one of us, as nursing students in Nevada, to ponder  reflective questions that provide consideration for our actions, positive contributions to  the field, and areas where we can grow and develop. With this thought in mind, are we building a strong community by being ACTIVELY involved in your school chapter’s  nursing student association? For those of us who are graduating, are we willing to  cultivate the next cohort by taking advantage of mentorship opportunities? How many of  us have heard of students obtaining their nursing licensure and leaving Nevada to  pursue opportunities elsewhere? 

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 In the future, incorporating these reflective questions can create conversations that  can support and retain the current and future generations of nurses in Nevada. Nurse  retention is of utmost concern because Nevada is ranked #48 in the nation, with a rate of 743 registered nurses for every 100,000 people (Nevada State Legislature Research  Division, 2019). The carefully curated name chosen for our organization, Nevada  Nursing Student Association, sets us apart from other student nursing associations by showcasing our understanding and commitment to respect for the profession.  Therefore, cultivating opportunities to build community with nurses within our state may be the key to increasing the quality of healthcare for our patients and retaining healthcare providers from an ever-dwindling supply.  

 

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Janai McFarland (NVNSA Southern Regional Director) is a full-time, TRIO, student at Nevada State University in Henderson,  NV. Born in Chicago, IL, she moved to Las Vegas during the COVID pandemic to assist  the community as a licensed practical nurse. Currently, she is majoring in Pre Nursing/Human Health Science with aspirations to delve into an advanced nursing  degree, pursue leadership positions, and serve as a beacon of motivation for students from underrepresented backgrounds.

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References 

Doyle, A. (1929). Nursing by religious orders in the United States: Part V: Deaconesses, 1855- 1928. American Journal of Nursing, 29(11), 1331. https://doi.org/10.2307/3409908 

Hall, E. O., Joensen, A. L., & Dietz, S. M. (2023). Historiographic and biographic accounts of  Faroese nurses’ training and health-promoting work from 1910 to the end of the 1930s.  International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 82(1).  

https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2023.2233151 

Harmes, M. K., Harmes, B., & Harmes, M. A. (2021). The nurse in popular media: Critical  Essays. McFarland.  

https://books.google.com/books?id=oC1LEAAAQBAJ&dq=nurse+as+a+fetish&lr=&source=gbs_ navlinks_s 

Nevada State Legislature Research Division. (2019). Health Care in Nevada: Statistics and  Rankings [Dataset]. Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau.  

https://ppc.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/ppcnvgov/content/Meetings/2020/LCB 

HealthRankingsFactsheet_2020.pdf 

Roux, G., & Halstead, J. A. (2017). Issues and trends in nursing.  

https://www.amazon.com/Issues-Trends-Nursing-Practice-Leadership/dp/1284104893 

State Association/School Chapter links. (n.d.). NSNA. https://www.nsna.org/state associationschool-chapter-links.html