Resolutions Committee: SNAP encourages Nursing students to vote

By Teresa Murphy, Class of 2017

As seen in the spring 2016 issue of SNAPshots, The Newletter of the Villanova Chapter of the Student Nurses Association of Pennsylvania

Class of 2017 Legislative Committee Members at the SNAP State Convention in Harrisburg
  (left to right) author Teresa Murphy, Kristina Terzakis, and Kate Freudenberg

This year, Villanova's chapter of SNAP wrote a resolution to empower nursing students to vote. Our resolution was passed at state convention and will be presented at national convention in Orlando.  Nursing students as voters have great power.  The NSNA’s membership is over 60,000.  A goal of the resolution is to increase nursing students' awareness of the impact of their votes and to encourage nursing students to become aware of issues and candidates from national to local levels.  The resolution does not support any particular political candidate or party.

One in every 45 voters is a nurse. That number makes nurses a powerful force in elections. Nurses see firsthand the impact of health care on the patients, families and the healthcare profession. Preparing nursing students to be involved in public policy and to be active advocates for all patients starts with voting. Many nursing students have recently become of voting age and are not yet registered to vote.   SNAP-Villanova organized a voter registration information table in the student center, where students could come to start the voting application process and receive information about frequently asked questions. Through this table we helped numerous students start the registration process and answered questions about absentee ballots. Our information table effectively raised awareness about the importance of voting. This election year make sure your voice is heard! Register and vote!

The Delaplaine McDaniel Elementary School

By Meghan Long VU CON '16

As seen in the spring 2016 issue of SNAPshots, The Newletter of the Villanova Chapter of the Student Nurses Association of Pennsylvania

Author Meghan Long (right) at  McDaniel School.

If there was one word to describe Villanova’s chapter of the Student Nurses Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP), it would be opportunity; one that allows nursing students to make life-long friendships in service to others and grow into successful leaders.  

I believe that Villanova’s semester trips to the Delaplaine McDaniel Elementary School exemplify SNAP-Villanova’s opportunity for success.  The children attending this school reside in South Philadelphia, one of the financially poorest sections of the city.  With many families living below the poverty level, the children attending the McDaniel School have limited access to healthcare and active lifestyles.  

Villanova Nursing students await the children they will screen. 

Every year through special projects, SNAP-Villanovans perform eye screenings for hundreds of children, kindergarten through eighth grade.  The Villanova nurses identify the children who do not pass the eye exam and may need vision correction to be successful in school.  Through this

experience, SNAP-Villanovans create friendships in service to the children in this community.  Leadership development is also seen in this trip, through Villanovans who lead their fellow members through eye screenings and work with school nurse Nurse Rodney Abary.  Nurse Abary exemplifies the values of advocacy, independence and compassion for all the students at the McDaniel School.

As we end another semester trip at the McDaniel School, we SNAP-Villanovans remember that service, friendship and leadership together create the special opportunity for success in the student nurses association.