Nursing School Honored Among Top Programs

By Shelley Dean, Staff Writer

The nursing program on campus has been recognized as one of the top 25 of it’s kind in New York. 

RNcareers.org surveyed over 1,700 nursing programs before putting out their sixth annual report that ranks the top nursing programs in the U.S. This list helps prospective nursing students find the right school for them, and LIU was recognized on the list.

The nursing program at Post is described as a rigorous one, and they offer students medical technology that is not often available at other schools.

There is a simulation lab on campus that mirrors a real hospital. Students can get experience practicing their medical skills before entering into the real world.

“We have so much to offer here, and I feel very proud,” Nursing Chairperson Dr. Margaret Stroehlein said.

This is the first year Stroehlein has been chairperson for the program, having been a professor in the years before. 

With hospitals still short-staffed and overworked due to COVID-19, Stroehlein has been proud to see her students step up.

“Our students have not missed a beat,” she said.

Students have been provided with safety gear so that they are able to continue their studies during this time. They have had fit tests for their own N-95 masks to ensure a correct and safe fit.

“We don’t want our students to miss anything despite the times we’re in, and it’s only made the students stronger, I think,” Stroehlein said.

Nursing students are still going to hospitals and labs to complete their training, and nothing in the curriculum has changed since the  COVID-19 pandemic began. Stroehlein is very proud to say that the quality of education has not dropped since the pandemic started. 

Sophomore nursing major Greta Burke is among the students on campus still studying in-person despite the changing times.

“I think it’s awesome [that] our school is being recognized for this amazing program,” Burke said.

Burke fell in love with the program and school when she attended the summer honors institute for health professionals on campus. 

Burke recalls the difficult adjustment from in-person courses to virtual meetings last spring.

“Last semester, I had to set up an IV over Zoom and [it] ended up spilling fake celine all over my desk. The professors were great at helping us adjust to a different way of learning,” Burke said.

As a sophomore, Burke is able to practice in the simulation lab this year. Her class says that they are glad to be back in-person getting hands-on experience in their program.