Nevada Nursing Student Association

March 2023

How We Planned the SSON Student Nurses Event

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The Shining Stars of Nevada (SSON) Student Nurse Event is an annual event organized specifically for all nursing students in Nevada. The Nevada Nurses Association (NNA) and Nevada Nurses Foundation (NNF) collaborated with student volunteers and the Nevada Nursing Student Association (NVNSA) to plan this fantastic event that our board members hold near and dear to our hearts. All Nevada nursing and pre-nursing students were invited to this annual event, which rotates the location each year between Northern and Southern Nevada.

 

 

 

 

 

The event aims to cultivate and grow a strong community throughout our vast state by networking with our peers, celebrating our journey, and giving back by supporting the Nevada Nurses Foundation Scholarship Fund. Some other goals of the event include introducing students to the event exhibitors, holding an inspiring nursing panel, and providing students with a free NCLEX review. This event celebrates nursing students and inspires them to unite by breaking through the classroom walls and becoming one.

 

This year the SSON event took place on October 8th, 2022, in Northern Nevada at the Nugget Casino in Sparks. Megan Herbst (NVNSA Northern Regional Director) and Alyssa Anderson (NVNSA Communications Director) are the two NVNSA board members residing in Northern Nevada and were tasked as lead event coordinators.

 

Megan and Alyssa are NNF scholarship recipients and attend the new BSN program at Unitek College in Reno, with an expected graduation date of October 2023. Megan has always felt fulfilled by giving back and promoting kindness and compassion in her community. Alyssa has a non-profit work background and knew she could use her experience to help Megan reach her goal of planning the most successful SSON student event yet.

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In the months leading up to the event, Megan and Alyssa worked together to brainstorm and plan the event. Megan has worked in the Trauma ICU at Renown for over five years and has formed strong community ties with many Northern Nevada Nursing leaders. Alyssa used her experience to teach Megan how to cultivate new relationships with potential employers, schools, community resources, and small business owners with the goal of either signing them up as exhibitors or asking for a donation for our student raffle. Megan and Alyssa first saw this as a challenge but quickly learned how truly amazing our community in Nevada is and how much our community cares about our future nurses. Together, these two dynamic students signed up 18 exhibitors, almost 200 students, a nine-nurse panel, and an hourlong NCLEX review presented by NCLEX High Yield. Additionally, they collected more than $3,000 worth of donations for the event, which included Starbucks Coffee for the students and a plethora of raffle prizes that included items like Pharm Flashcards, stethoscopes, CEUs, ACLS/BLS courses, gift cards, baskets, and so much more.

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This event allowed the NVNSA Board to continue the development of their leadership skills and to network with practicing nurses and possible future employers from across the state. Megan, Alyssa, and the entire NVNSA Board, along with NNA and NNF, wish to thank publicly again all the exhibitors, the nurse panelist, and all the contributing sponsors for their generous support, which contributed to the success of the NVNSA student event. 

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The rest of this published article can be found in the RNFormation publication for January, February and March, 2023.

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