Welcome - I am Heather Brunswick, proudly a graduate from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at the the University of Cincinnati. Upon graduation, I obtained the status of Magna Cum Laude, became a part of the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society, and became a Distinguished Honors Scholar through the University Honors Program.
I am originally from a small farm town in northwest Ohio called Maria Stein. I am blessed with a large family of seven: two parents who have supported me in everything I have done, an older sister who I admire, and three younger brothers which I love dearly.
While at UC, I stayed involved in a variety of activities. I completed my role transition by spending 200 hours in the Emergency Dept. at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Fort Thomas, KY. I cannot thank my preceptor enough for all that she has taught me - the critical thinking skills I obtained and experience in code situations has been invaluable to me. I spent my co-op by spending 400 hours on a cardiopulmonary/telemetry floor at the VA Medical Center. Here, I learned how to master both my assessment and prioritization skills. In addition to these hospitals, I also spent a great deal of time as a PCA at Good Samaritan Hospital and gained experience in a variety of specialties by floating to numrous floors including telemetry, medical-surgical, post-surgical, renal, oncology, rehabilitation, antepartum, adult psychiatric, geriatric psychiatric, cardiovascular ICU, and medical-surgical ICU.
In addition, I have been the Vice President of UC's Student Nurses Association (SNA) for the past 3 years. Through this position, I have been in charge of organizing and planning meetings, collaborating with other organization leaders to plan volunteer events, and acting as a resource for the new board members. For the past two years I have been in charge of sending 6-8 nursing students to the National SNA Convention in both Nashville, TN and Phoenix, AZ. This included getting budget approval through UFB, planning the trip, and organizing the legal documents for the trip. This past year I was in charge of the UC College of Nursing's Career Fair and collaborating with the HR departments of a variety of hospitals in Cincinnati, Dayton, and northern Kentucky. I also volunteered to be the student representative for both the Kaplan and Hurst NCLEX reviews and acted as a liaison between the speakers, professors, and students. However, one of my favorite memories of my college career was traveling to Italy and spending a week learning about the culture, architecture, and the engineering aspects of Rome.
As I look beyond graduation, I look forward to becoming employed at a hospital whose mission statement matches my personal philosophy. Down the road, my goal is to eventually work within a spciality in which I truly enjoy what I am doing and, with time, obtain certification in my field of practice. Either way, I could not be happier about my decision to pursue this profession and look forward to being an advocate for both my patients and their families.