Tap into Nursing with the National Student Nurses Association Richmond Chapter

Nursing students can often spend 40 hours a week attending class, clinicals and internships. Who has time for extracurricular activities?

The National Student Nurses’ Association is not a typical activity. This club can help students further their career. Tiyana Thomas, president of the National Student Nurses’ Association chapter at Bryant & Stratton University’s Richmond Campus said the organization’s primary goal is to mentor and help professionally develop nursing students. And organizers start by making sure nursing students can join.

With little time to hold down jobs, the $35 national membership fee can be a burden. The Richmond chapter instituted a Play to Pay program. If students attend two meetings, and volunteer at a NSNA event, their fee is reimbursed. Thomas said the program has doubled the chapter’s membership after a single semester.

While the chapter does typical campus activities such as meetings, held during the day, fundraisers and campus health fair, the crux of their focus is to help nursing students succeed scholastically and professionally. The chapter offers educational resources by mentoring new students and offering fellowship opportunities not just with other students but with faculty members as well. NSNA members can engage in leadership opportunities by interacting with professionals in their field at the annual conference, hosted by the Virginia Nursing Student Association.

Each spring members of Richmond’s NSNA attend Legislative Day. Here, students mingle with politicians and learn to “be a powerful advocate for nursing and for the health of all Virginians,” Thomas said. The day is also a dizzying study in the critical issues the nurses, and the nature of healthcare, face at both state and national levels. Finally, NSNA’s Richmond chapter’s latest accolade may help its members pay for school. Last semester the chapter achieved constituency status, meaning chapter members qualify to apply for scholarships, grants and awards through the national organization.