SUU Nursing Student Finds Ways To Help
Posted: February 16, 2018 | Author: Kaden Mcbride | Read Time: 2 minutes
What drives health professionals to practice medicine? Jake Ross, a junior nursing student at Southern Utah University, believes it’s the emotional payout that goes hand-in-hand with the work. It’s this type of compensation that drives the Vernal, Utah native to help his fellow nursing students succeed and it’s what motivates him to plan medical missions around the globe.
“I’ve always wanted to be in the medical field,” said Ross. “I wanted to be a doctor initially, but in my junior year of high school I decided to be a nurse because I get to interact with patients and it’s more hands on.”
After Ross earns his Bachelor of Science in Nursing, he plans on becoming a Nurse Practitioner and then traveling to India.
“I am passionate about global medicine,” said Ross. “You truly are helping people in moments when they have nothing left and no one to turn to. Even doing simple things can be monumental to them. It’s the whole point of medicine and India would be the start of that journey.”
Ross is also looking to help those who are close to home too. Last summer he became a Certified Nurse’s Assistant and started working at Dixie Regional Medical Center. He also serves the Utah Student Nurses Association as the Breakthrough to Nursing Director. Many Utah SNA chapters don’t have a director to help potential nursing students get the vital information they need to prepare to enter nursing programs around the state. Ross is working with regional directors to change the bylaws of the Utah SNA to ensure that all of Utah’s SNA chapters have a Breakthrough to Nursing director to help pre-nursing students.
Ross says the nursing program at SUU has been challenging but he feels that it has been for his benefit. The licensing pass rate for SUU nursing students this past year was 87%.
“I feel like I get personalized attention,” said Ross. “If you don’t do well on an exam you have to meet with a professor and they develop a plan with you so you can do better on the next exam. The professors meet weekly to plan curriculum and design the courses to go hand-in-hand.”
“I've known Jake for several years and he is always upbeat, personable, kind and funny,” said Mary Jo Tufte, assistant professor of Biology at SUU. “His personality is well suited for becoming a health care provider because of these qualities. He's been in many of my classes and one of Jake's best qualities is that he always works as hard as he can to achieve his goals and succeed, even if it means doing his coursework over again. He never gave up, always bettered himself, and has succeeded because of this.”
Find out more about SUU’s nursing program.
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