December 7, 2011

Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions students were honored and recognized at the Student Nurses’ Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) annual convention held Nov. 15-19, 2011 in Lancaster, PA.

Kayleigh Jackson was elected President and Alexis Burns was elected Legislative Coordinator of the State Board of Directors of SNAP. SNAP, a student-run organization that represents over 6,000 students from nursing schools throughout Pennsylvania, is part of the National Student Nurses' Association.

Jackson, a junior in the Bachelor’s of Science Nursing co-op program in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, presided over her first board meeting on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011 and will continue to lead the state level organization.

“An experience of this magnitude opens so many professional doors to those involved,” says Jackson. “I look forward to meeting new people and creating lifelong connections along the way. One of my mentors always says, ‘don’t let school get in the way of your education.’ This quote fits perfectly when thinking about the invaluable experience I will gain from this new endeavor and I look forward to absorbing all the knowledge I can throughout the year.”

Burns, a sophomore in the Bachelor’s of Science Nursing co-op program, will be responsible for leading the state organization’s legislative agenda on Capitol Hill in Harrisburg, PA. 
 
“[At a conference last year] a presenter described how she was chosen to attend a special session with other health care professionals and President Obama. [She] was shocked to discover that very few nurses were there in comparison to all the doctors,” says Burns.

Stephanie Glatts, Drexel University’s SNAP Chapter president since June 2010, was an individual scholarship winner and accepted the chapter’s gold chapter excellence award in the category of “chapters with 150+ members” at the national convention.

“During the first year of my involvement with SNAP it was a small organization with maybe 10 students. When I became President in June 2010 I made a strategic plan to get this pre-professional organization's name out there and within the last two years we have expanded into the hundreds,” says Glatts, a senior in the Bachelor’s of Science Nursing co-op program.

During the SNAP national conference, she also led 38 voting delegates who caucused among the group as well as with other school chapters such as Penn, Widener, and Villanova within the House of Delegate meetings.  A total of 143 voting delegates addressed issues before the house including resolutions, candidate voting, and most notably a bylaws amendment on re-districting director representation of Pennsylvania school chapters.  In addition, Glatts represented Drexel at the Council of School Presidents where she fielded questions on Drexel’s accomplishments.  

The Drexel University chapter of SNAP, with over 845 members, is the largest in Pennsylvania and in the National Student Nurses’ Association.  This chapter has committed to supporting two candidates for national office at the annual convention of the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) in April 2012.  One of these candidates, if elected, will then be supported to run for national president in 2013.