My name is Nicole Brianne Filippazzo, and I am a senior nursing major with a cumulative grade point average of 3.95.

Growing up, I was always a quiet personality who was most comfortable with being a follower.

After my time at Wagner College, I have transformed into a confident, professional, passionate young woman.

Each day I am reminded of something Gandhi said: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” I live life with an optimistic outlook, not only because I respect life and life’s gifts, but because this mentality empowers me. Always ready with a smile, one of my passions is supporting people.

What draws me to nursing is that it is both a science and an art form that is forever changing.

The Wagner College reflective tutorial programs have helped shape my education to allow both classroom and experiential instruction. Nursing is a difficult course of study because it is highly based on textbook material along with applied knowledge. For example, it means nothing if one knows the anatomy of the heart if one cannot correctly obtain and interpret an EKG reading. Nursing students need to have the whole package of intellect, skill, moral and legal understanding, and patient relations. My senior capstone course was really two courses: my senior RFT [reflective tutorial], and Nursing Leadership & Management. Together, they brought all the information I had learned throughout my previous years to bear in creating my own holistic approach to nursing care.

The Senior RFT (NR490) taught me essentials like how to register for the NCLEX [National Council Licensure Examination, the standard national nursing professional exam] and state licensure, simulated NCLEX comprehensive exams, resume and cover-page formats, nurse recruitment interviewing skills, applying for jobs and understanding benefits. These lectures prepared me for the professionalism aspect that comes with graduating.

It was during this course that our research thesis project was to be completed. Having taken Nursing Research in the senior fall semester, I chose the topic of nursing education related to breast cancer awareness in the population of 18-to-22-year-old women. I am greatly interested in women’s health, and this research allowed me to educate young women about the numerous myths and misconceptions surrounding breast cancer. I performed a pretest, gave a PowerPoint educational session, post-tested immediately following the session, then tested again in two weeks. My research explored what young women know, learn and remember about breast cancer. In preparing and conducting my research, I explored evidence-based research and how it applies to the nursing profession as well as nurse education techniques and effectiveness. This study suggests that although immediate exam scores increase, nursing education is not maintained long-term.

My nursing internship experience combined all of the fields previously studied along with leadership and management skills. The chairwoman of Wagner’s Nursing Department, Dr. Lauren O’Hare, placed me at Staten Island University Hospital–South Site on the ICU/CCU. I worked individually with a registered nurse preceptor, working 12-hour shifts, and carried out quality patient care. This was an amazing opportunity that allowed me to fine-tune my skills and challenge the nursing process while working beside medical doctors and seasoned nurses. I documented each shift I worked with a journal entry. This is an excerpt from the entry on my first day on the Intensive Care Unit:

We all experience first days throughout our lifetime. Many use the term “first day jitters,” but through my experience, it is more a roller coaster of emotion. Today was my first clinical day at Staten Island University–South Site, where I will complete hours for my RFT class. Anxiously awaiting my preceptor on the Intensive Care Unit, I tried to take in as much as I could. I read the bulletin boards, studied the Pyxis system, observed the night nurses briskly walking back and forth, noted where the utility rooms were, etc. I strive to be a professional in every given situation. However, despite my perfectly ironed uniform, the new stethoscope around my neck, my notebook waiting to be filled with assignments, and my new knowledge of where the linen cart was, where I stood quickly became a reality. These ICU patients are critical; their nursing care must be flawless; truly, life and death waver here from minute to minute. I had done twelve-hour shifts before, but it was obvious my day would be nothing like anything I had previously experienced.

Nurses play such an influential role in the medical field, and I am eager to be an active member of the profession.

Aside from my senior internship, I was employed by Johns Hopkins Hospital for 10 intensive weeks as a clinical nurse extern in the department of surgery. Generous supporters of the Wagner nursing program, Don and Evelyn Spiro, made this opportunity possible. I worked on the Cardiac Progressive Care Unit, which is a stepdown unit for all open heart and open chest surgeries.

My eyes have truly been opened to the wonderful, exciting and challenging field of nursing, and I leave Wagner College enthused to be a part of it. I accept challenges because I feel that by being challenged, one becomes more knowledgeable and capable. My senior capstone experience has prepared me to leave Wagner as a well-rounded nursing professional, and for that I am forever grateful.