Student Organizations

Get Hired! Series – The goal of the series is to provide resources, tools, and strategies for landing your first nursing job and supporting your professional nursing career. The series is open to any student within the School of Nursing. The Student Governance Council has partnered with University Career Services, the School of Nursing, and the School of Nursing Alumni Association to create a new series including an Employment Workshop, SON Career Fair, and Student & Alumni Mixer.

Lunch ‘N Learn Series – In 2013, the Council launched a monthly Lunch ‘N Learn series focusing on advanced practice nursing. Each month, a panel of practicing professionals discusses the role of specific advanced practice nurses. The goal of these educational and interactive presentations is to provide nursing students with a place to grow their understanding of the broad spectrum of specialties in nursing practice.

Scrub Donation Program – The Council recognizes the costs of a nursing education which prompted the creation of the Scrub Donation Program. At the end of each student’s program they have embroidered SON specific scrubs that are no longer needed. Upon graduation, seniors are asked to donate their scrubs so that we can distribute to current students. In late April the Council will survey all BSN students to assess need and interest in scrubs. The Council will distribute donated scrubs based on financial need and seniority within the SON. This program is helpful to those entering the program as well as current students that may need additional scrubs for clinical assignments. In recent distributions, each student who requested scrubs received at least one scrub item.

Social Events – Every semester the Council hosts social events that are open to all SON students. Some examples include end of semester inter-disciplinary mixers with the UNC Medical, Pharmacy, and Dental Schools.

SON Administrative Meetings – The Council is invited to have members represent the UG student body at three important meetings of the School’s leadership each academic year. The meetings are:

• Baccalaureate Executive Council (BEC): a group of UG faculty who meet monthly to set and revise academic policies and the UG curriculum.
• Program Director meetings each semester with interim program director Dr. Julie Page regarding matters specific to the UG program and student experience.
• Dean’s Student Advisory Council: a student group comprised of representatives from all degree programs who meet once per semester with Dean Valerie Howard, Associate Dean Louise Fleming and Asst. Dean Kathy Moore to address issues and ideas impacting all students in the School.

Each entity provides a venue for students to share what is going well, what ideas they have for change, as well as their concerns for needed change.

Student Appreciation Exam Breaks – Working with OSA, food and beverages are provided during the final exam period to show our support and help reduce test anxiety and stress.

ANS is the student nurse’s professional organization as the American Nurses’ Association is the graduate’s professional organization. ANS operates on a local, regional, state and national level. On the local and region level, programs are provided during the year on various subjects of interest to the student nurse. There are opportunities to participate in community health projects that provide a service to the community, as well as a chance for nursing students to utilize and gain knowledge and skills. In addition, ANS encourages student nurses to become involved in legislative activities concerning health care, nursing education and nursing practice. On the state and national levels, annual conventions are held to promote the development of the student nurse as a health professional. Programs are provided that represent fundamental and current professional interests and concerns.

The Supersonics are a Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Interest Group that holds regular professional development events. You can contact pocus@unc.edu for more information, and follow on social media:

The Alpha Alpha Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau Inc., the International Honor Society in Nursing, was chartered at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Oct. 5, 1962. The Society recognizes scholarship, leadership, creativity and excellence in the nursing profession. Invitations to membership are extended to selected students in the Undergraduate and Graduate programs, faculty members and nurses in the community with a baccalaureate or higher degree based on academic performance and service to the profession. The Society conducts educational programs, sponsors research activities and awards exemplars of the mission in keeping with its purposes.

Nursing students join students from other health affairs schools to serve on the Student Health Action Coalition, an entity devoted to the improvement of healthcare and health education in Chapel Hill and surrounding areas. Faculty and students from the schools of Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Public Health, Physical Therapy, and Social Work volunteer at a community clinic that delivers efficient effective and care, emphasizing prevention, education and referral to the underserved community free-of-charge. The clinic is open one evening per week and provides students a chance to practice skills, learn in an interdisciplinary environment and gain personal satisfaction by helping the community.

Additionally, students operate Mobile SHAC, a program that provides home care and support for home-bound, under-served citizens. And they are involved in Health for Habitat in which students work with others in the community to constuct a Habitat house and SHAC Outreach which strives to offer health promotion programs in partnership with community agencies.

For more information about SHAC, see http://www.med.unc.edu/shac/. Nursing student volunteers must register for NURS 600 to particpate in SHAC.

Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health is a student-led organization at UNC-Chapel Hill that is a apart of a larger scale national organization. While our focus is on nursing students, membership in this club can translate well beyond graduation. Advocacy is a lifelong journey, and this organization unites people with similar passions to create a community of trust, knowledge, and heart.

Learn more.

MNSA Mission

The Minority Nursing Student Association (MNSA) aims to support students who are underrepresented in the nursing school. We will actively take into account the needs of minority students and validate their concerns through facilitating communication with faculty and administration within the School of Nursing. Through our efforts, we hope to bring awareness to the different experiences of minorities in the nursing field. MNSA will serve to create a safe space in which individuals can openly discuss issues that exist in minority communities, voice any concerns, and receive support from one another. We are an association that is exclusively focused on supporting underrepresented students, but membership is open to anyone that supports our mission.

MNSA Vision

MNSA intends to form a sense of community and unity for students and faculty from underrepresented populations within the nursing school and for pre-nursing students in the College of Arts and Sciences. We hope to increase the number of minority students interested in the nursing profession and serve as a source of information and support for those students.

Learn More.