The new Nursing Clinical Arts Center, funded in part from a $400,000 RACP grant, will include simulation, basic skills and health assessment labs, and will host nursing students in both the traditional BSN and accelerated ABSN programs.
“It’s a great day to be a nurse.”
Those were the words spoken by Interim President of Chestnut Hill College, Brian McCloskey, D.M., MBA, as he led the construction kickoff ceremony at the SugarLoaf campus on Tuesday, November 19. Joining McCloskey to help celebrate this momentous occasion were esteemed healthcare colleagues, industry professionals, local elected officials, community leaders, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, and a contingent of the College’s staff, faculty, board members, donors, and most importantly, the six nursing students who make up the first cohort in the program’s history.
“Only one group of people can be the first and we have them here today, the first Chestnut Hill nursing Griffins,” said Susan Apold, Ph.D., RN, ANP–BC, A/GNP, C, FAAN, FAANP, director of nursing at Chestnut Hill College. “And like the Griffin, they will become healthcare leaders, fearsome warriors for patient advocacy, and guardians of health. Together, these students have helped create Chestnut Hill College history by working side-by-side with our Nursing Advisory Board to help co-create our curriculum, one that is relevant to their lives and the future of their patients.”
This curriculum embraces traditional nursing essentials while also building upon new areas such as the importance of self-care to avoid compassion fatigue, and an intentional focus on the pathology of aging persons, as well as reinforcing other core areas of the profession including an emphasis on care and concern for patients at all stages of life, especially quality end-of-life care. In addition, the College’s program features a highly immersive format which allows students to spend less time in the classroom and more in the field, receiving real-world clinical experience as often as possible.
As is expressed in the Center for Nursing’s Mission Statement, “Chestnut Hill College nurses will be able to: initiate and adapt to change, engage in critical thinking in healthcare innovation, engage in bold leadership in pursuit of individual, family, community, and environmental and professional advocacy, and seek knowledge wherever it presents itself in pursuit of a global culture of health.”
Tuesday’s event was a special moment for many at the College, but perhaps none more so than Apold, a nurse, nursing educator, and leader in the field, for more than four decades. Apold joined the CHC staff less than two full years ago and in that short time, submitted the College’s nursing application to the state of Pennsylvania, received approval on that same proposal from the state’s Board of Nursing, and collaborated with countless healthcare professionals to help craft the origins of the new nursing program and establish relationships for clinical placements.
As McCloskey referred to her at the ceremony, she has been ‘Wonder Woman’ for the College in its efforts to offer two nursing degrees to students in the Philadelphia area. Starting in Fall 2025, the College will offer a traditional BSN and accelerated ABSN for those already holding a bachelor’s degree and looking to add nursing as a second career.”
While Apold led the charge on the academic side of the house, the College’s advancement team helped raise the funds to make the dream a reality. They secured more than $4.5M to help transform the SugarLoaf Conference Center into the Nursing Clinical Arts Center, a state-of-the-art nursing facility with a new basic skills lab, teaching and office spaces, and a health assessment lab and simulation lab. Funds raised will also allow Chestnut Hill to begin renovating existing science labs on the College’s main campus, which will benefit not only nursing students but students in all science programs.
In addition to money provided by donors, the College received a $400,000 RACP grant from Governor Josh Shapiro’s office, to help close the fundraising phase. A check for the grant was presented to the College at the event Tuesday, by PA State Representative Tarik Khan and PA State Senator Art Haywood, both of whom were instrumental in helping the College secure the funding from the state.
“As I was telling the nursing students, nursing really is something that is a vocation,” noted Khan. “It’s something that no matter where you find yourself in life, you will always be a nurse because it’s rooted in empathy.”
Khan, who in his remarks, also shared stories of attending events at SugarLoaf with his father, was in a unique position to address the crowd. As a family nurse practitioner since 2011, registered nurse of almost two decades, and former president of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, Khan spoke not only with a legislator’s hat on, but that of a nurse sharing their own experience.
“We need good nurses and not just any nurses, nurses who are going to be empathetic, who go in there because they care about other people,” Khan said. “They care about making the world a better place. That’s why I got into nursing, and I’m really glad that in its 100th anniversary year, CHC has decided that this will be the place where you all become nurses as well.”
Khan’s remarks were followed by those of Haywood, who has been one of the College’s staunchest allies over the years, helping Chestnut Hill College secure millions in grant dollars from the state for various projects including renovations to the Clement Hall classrooms and redesigning the entrance to the SugarLoaf campus to help make it safer and more accessible. During his remarks, Haywood shared a personal story about his mother and the role a nurse played in her final days.
Haywood’s mother had suffered a stroke and been moved to a rehab center where her family couldn’t see her as a result of the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a nurse, Haywood shared, who set up weekly calls between him and his mother. The two talked every Friday. When Haywood’s mother passed, that same nurse was by her side.
“I will always appreciate the nurse’s care and seeing the dignity in my mom’s remaining days,” Haywood shared. “And it is that dignity that we entrust you with, to uplift the dignity of each of the persons you serve. We have a shortage of caring, of compassion, of people who will uplift the dignity of others in our nation, and that’s why I cannot be happier to see this nursing program here in the district.”
While known largely for their educational pursuits, Eileen Marnien, SSJ, congregational president, shared that the Sisters of Saint Joseph also have a history in nursing, having been tasked with serving in healthcare since they first arrived in Philadelphia in 1847. Marnien shared that the sisters were responsible for the administration of Saint Joseph’s Hospital, serving the wounded on both sides of the Civil War conflict, and caring for those during the flu epidemic of 1918. Often, these sisters served with little to no experience in nursing, something Marnien joked to the CHC nursing students would “never be your problem, you’ll be ready to lead the charge.”
Following additional remarks from Chair of the Board of Directors, Carol Steinour Young, who expressed that “the promise of Chestnut Hill College has never been brighter,” the College officially broke through on the next phase of its nursing program, breaking a wall to serve as the symbolic kickoff to the construction of the NCAC, which begins in earnest on Monday, November 25.
“A nurse can change a house, a family, a neighborhood, a community,” noted McCloskey in his closing remarks to the students sitting in front of him, “and we know that you all will begin that change and that you, along with future nursing students at Chestnut Hill College, are going to do great things in and Philly and beyond.”
For more on Chestnut Hill College’s new nursing program, visit www.chc.edu/nursing.
– Marilee Gallagher ’14