NEWPORT, R.I. – Salve Regina University nursing professor Kathryn Rexrode, RN, MSN, has received ATI Nursing Education’s first-ever Nurse’s Touch Award. Nominated by two of her students, she was specifically selected for her demonstration and expectation of professionalism from students as well as exemplifying the personal and professional balance necessary to be a nurse one day.
“We are honored to recognize Kathryn for her commitment to developing communications, professionalism and similar ‘soft skills’ in future nurses,” said Sheryl Sommer, director of nursing education and curriculum at ATI Nursing Education. “Nursing programs have limited time and resources, which means these skills are rarely a top priority in the classroom. Under her guidance, nursing students at Salve Regina University are receiving exposure to abilities that will help them function as leaders of the healthcare team and be a patient advocate.”
Rexrode went back to school for an education degree in 2007 after spending more than 20 years providing direct patient care as nurse. She initially wasn’t set on teaching undergraduate nursing students, but realized during her clinical experience it was what gave her greatest fulfillment. She has been teaching full-time for the past two years and expresses how valuable she finds it to bring her real life work experience into the classroom.
“Many faculty members at Salve Regina are deserving of this type of award, and therefore I am humbled and honored to be selected. I feel fortunate to work in a smaller setting where I know my students by name, and incorporate teaching and modeling soft skills,” Rexrode said. “Thanks to ATI Nursing Education for calling attention to the importance of soft skills education.”
Highlights from the nomination included the following:
Rexrode demonstrates mastery of soft skills in her organization and preparations for class; carriage of her person e.g., professional appearance, punctuality, level of fitness. She is always ready to listen and is constantly reevaluating what she presents in her lectures with how the information is received and proactively sets out to assist us with critical thinking, demonstrating how the materials that we learn in class and experience at clinical overlap and interrelate.
As students we are aware that she not only works full time teaching, managing all of the clinical sections associated with her lecture, but she is also a practicing medical surgical nurse, and has a family. Clearly her plate is full. Mrs. Rexrode teaches her students to strive for professionalism, to reach beyond competence, and to do so with balance and humanity.
ATI Nursing Education worked with nurse educators, curriculum developers and psychometricians on a new curriculum for nursing students – Nurse’s Touch™ – which helps students develop the social and personal skills that they will need to become successful nurses. Students learn these “soft skills” through interactive simulations, case studies and tutorials.
For more information on Nurse’s Touch, visit www.atinursestouch.com or view videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/ATINursingEducation. You also can read the recently published white paper: “Soft Skills Research: Aligning Nurse’s Touch with Best Practices.”
ATI Nursing Education is the leading provider of online learning programs that are instrumental in improving faculty effectiveness and student and program outcomes in nursing schools across the country. Currently the company works with more than 20,000 nurse educators, approximately 2,100 colleges and universities nationwide, and over 225,000 students. ATI Nursing Education has played a role in helping more than 1 million students pass the NCLEX, the U.S. nursing licensing exam. ATI Nursing Education is part of Ascend Learning. Founded in 2010, Ascend Learning provides technology-based educational, curriculum and assessment solutions for healthcare and other professional industries. For more information, visit http://www.ascendlearning.com/companies/ati-nursing/.