Pediatric conference opens professional doors for nursing students

09/29/2014 12:35 PM

By Danielle Fitch ‘15

One-hundred Bradley nursing students seized a unique opportunity to gain experience and network with professionals at a recent pediatric conference hosted by the Children’s Hospital of Illinois. The conference gave students a chance to learn current techniques used in hot topic areas in the pediatric community that instructors do not always have time to cover in a single semester.

General session topics such as “Ingestions and Toxic Medicines,” “Abuse Awareness” and “Bullying” gave students critical information on how to spot areas of concern for adolescent health and wellness.

Professionals working in the field familiarized students with techniques used to recognize, report and record potential abuse in children and differentiate bullying from normal adolescent conflict. Break-off sessions addressed themes like “Asthma,” “Pediatric Development” and “Intravenous Therapy Skills.”

“I really enjoyed the IV Skills Lab,” said Joe Gordon ’15, from Northbrook, Illinois. “We were able to practice administering infant IVs in a low pressure environment surrounded by highly skilled and experienced professionals.”

“These conferences give educators the ability to gel theory presented in lecture to practice in the professional health field,” said Professor Amanda Lambie. “Because the health field is always changing, the people who practice in the health field must change also. If we can instill the importance of professional education while our students are still here at Bradley, we will give them tools they can use in the real world.”