Student Group, Employees Rally to Aid Standardized Patient
Students, staff, and faculty joined forces to show some Salesian love to a standardized patient.
When Jason Konzelmann, director of health care simulation, found out that one of the SIM lab’s standardized patients, Janet Dragone (above, second from left), was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, he reached out to nursing and health care colleagues to put together a care package for her. Standardized patients help health care and nursing students practice real-life scenarios throughout their education.
“Janet has been a part of the DeSales SP program since the beginning, supporting our students’ education,” says Konzelmann. “It was important to me that we do something in her time of need.”
Kiersten Withrow, MSN, assistant professor, and the Student Nurses’ Association sprang into action, raising money and supplies. The group gifted Dragone $500, along with a DeSales blanket, hat, and socks, during a special meeting in the Gambet Center. Konzelmann raised an additional $1,000 from faculty and fellow standardized patients.
“To be able to give back to this woman who has shaped our education and provided us with such great learning opportunities, it’s the least that we could do,” says Allison Nicinski ’23 (above, second from right), a nursing major and president of SNA. “That’s what our organization is all about.”
