School of Nursing & Health Sciences News Articles

While helping with a training activity at the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Donnamarie Lovestrand saw more than a decade of inquiry put into practice. That inquiry began in 2011 when Lovestrand, now an associate professor of nursing at Pennsylvania College of Technology, was a staff nurse in the post-anesthesia care unit of Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital at Fort Polk (now Fort Johnson) in Louisiana.

Tina Marie Kline, associate professor of nursing at Pennsylvania College of Technology, recently completed a doctorate in nursing education and administration from William Carey University. Kline’s studies culminated in a dissertation titled “The Transition From Clinical Nurse to Academic Nurse Educator: Examining the Return on Investment.”

A physical therapy clinic – staffed by students supervised by licensed professionals, and offering free services to volunteer community participants in need – is planned for Fall 2025 at Pennsylvania College of Technology. The clinic is being funded by Penn College President Emeritus Davie Jane Gilmour, whose gift will be used to purchase much of the needed equipment, upgrade the space (the former Occupational Therapy Assistant Lab), and support the first two years of operations at the facility.

A $10,000 gift from the Dr. and Mrs. Arthur William Phillips Charitable Trust has helped Pennsylvania College of Technology purchase PeriopSim, a virtual reality simulation learning system, for its surgical technology program. Using virtual reality headsets and hand controls, students are immersed in a virtual operating room environment, allowing them to practice surgical procedures repeatedly in a safe, controlled environment.

Fifteen Pennsylvania College of Technology paramedic students are part of the health care team at the 2024 Little League Baseball World Series. The students work under the guidance of certified paramedics from Susquehanna Regional Emergency Medical Services, who are on hand in the stadiums to provide for the emergency health needs of spectators at the nationally televised youth sports event, which began Aug. 14 and concludes Aug. 25.

Pennsylvania College of Technology has presented student achievement awards to its Summer 2024 graduates. A commencement ceremony was held Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Community Arts Center, Williamsport. Penn College is a special mission affiliate of Penn State.

Students in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s radiography major recently expanded their professional perspective, attending the American Society of Radiologic Technologists annual Educational Symposium & House of Delegates Meeting. “It was truly great to see the technologists’ passion for the profession,” said student Anne M. Rosanelli, of Troy. “It made me feel excited to become a technologist in the radiographic profession.”

Pennsylvania College of Technology has appointed Elizabeth S. Gizenski to director of its surgical technology program. Gizenski, a registered nurse and certified surgical technologist, had been the program’s clinical director since 2005. She received the college’s award for Excellence in Academic Advising in 2019.

A nursing director at Pennsylvania College of Technology co-authored a piece, published recently in Rehabilitation Nursing Journal, that reveals a drop in hospital readmission rates among rehabilitation patients when nurses implement a “teach-back” patient education strategy. Kelly T. Bidlespacher, director of nursing-bachelor’s and graduate degrees at Penn College, pursued the evidence-based practice improvement project as part of her doctoral studies.

The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education recently reaffirmed its accreditation of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s physical therapist assistant major. The reaffirmation extends the program’s accreditation for the next 10 years. The reaffirmation is based on a self-study by the college and a visit to campus by CAPTE.