Nebraska Methodist College welcomed its latest line of nursing and allied health graduates at commencement ceremonies held at St. Andrew's United Methodist Church on August 2.

You’ve done your career research. You know you want to be a respiratory therapist.

But do you know what to look for in a respiratory therapy program? How to tell if it will be worth the money, let alone the time and effort? Which factors could help you decide between two programs that appear to be the same?

To help you take a deeper dive into what sets one respiratory care program apart from another, we’ve prepared a comparison worksheet for you to download, print and use.

Based on a questionnaire template created by the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) for use by prospective students, this worksheet will help you organize the program information that's crucial to your success.

You go to a gym several times a week. And while you may be building muscle and stamina, even shedding a few pounds, are you really changing your lifestyle, reducing your health risks or preventing disease?

That is the question the medical fitness industry is working to answer.

Medical fitness is an individualized health risk management model designed to maximize a person’s health and quality of life.

NMC guest blogger and assistant nursing professor Kiley Petersmith, MSN, RN, describes an action-packed, thought-provoking classroom experience that helped make poverty real for students in the Community-Based Care Across the Lifespan course.

Poverty impacts more than 40 million people in the United States, including thousands of people right here in our own local communities.

For those fortunate enough never to have been poor, poverty may seem like a simple concept: a shortage of dollars. The reality is more complicated with far-reaching implications, especially for future healthcare professionals.

“Everyone deserves equal, quality healthcare and opportunities,” said an NMC nursing student after participating in the Poverty Simulation.

“I will help those in poverty,” another student said. “I will make a difference one day.”

Exclusive new strategic partnerships will greatly benefit Nebraska Methodist College students who complete either of two new concentrations in the Wellness & Health Promotion Management (WHPM) master’s degree program.

The WHPM program curriculum has been updated to include the two concentrations, Medical Fitness Management and Worksite & Community Wellness.

Beginning this fall, a partnership with the Medical Fitness Association will enable students who complete the Medical Fitness Management concentration to sit for the association’s Fitness Facility Director certification exam.

Meanwhile, the College is joining with the Chapman Institute, creator of the WellCert worksite wellness certification program, to incorporate four WellCert certifications into the Worksite & Community Wellness concentration.

“Can you go into a room and brighten somebody’s day?”

That’s the first question LaToya Sharp, a registered respiratory therapist, asks when someone wants to know what it takes to make it in this career field.

“Helping someone with breathing problems to feel better, laugh, share, or just smile makes me feel like I’ve kicked the winning field goal for my team,” LaToya says. “You must be sensitive to the individual person’s experience and truly care. That’s when you know the respiratory field is for you.”

Experts say there are at least six key qualities required to be a good respiratory therapist. Do you have what it takes?

We congratulate the 136 students named to the Dean's List!

Degree-seeking students with a 3.75 semester grade point average (GPA) or better who are enrolled in 12 or more credit hours have qualified for the Dean's List. 

“Growing up in my country, there were no doctors or nurses nearby. The only clinic was far away.”

Anna Michael was born in the small farming village of Kupera in what is now South Sudan. She had seven brothers and sisters, three of whom lost their lives to infection or anemia before age two.

The closest clinic was a 12-hour bicycle ride away. Anna’s father would carry his sick children on the back of his bicycle, hoping to find the clinic open to the long line of patients sure to be waiting there. As far back as she can remember, Anna saw the need for better medical care and more nurses.

“Nurses play such a big impact in a patient’s success,” Anna said. “I knew I wanted to be a nurse.”

Anna was determined to realize her dream, but she never expected the challenges ahead—or that the journey would lead her to the United States and to Nebraska Methodist College.

Justin Druskis, 32, didn’t set out to become a respiratory therapist. Three years ago, he didn’t even know the career field existed. He just knew he was unhappy at work.

“I had a master’s degree in international business and was a director for a real estate development firm,” Justin said. “Yet I sat behind a desk wondering why I was miserable.”

Talking this over with a buddy of his, Justin said, “You’re always happy with your job. Tell me exactly what it is you do and why you like it so much.”

Turns out, Justin’s buddy is a respiratory therapist.

“Patients love that my sister Annie and I are twins, said Jane Rodgers, “and they seem fascinated to see us working together at the hospital." 

The togetherness that began in utero for the Rodgers twins has continued through their college and career choices, shaping the journey from their home in Loveland, Colorado, to Omaha, Nebraska. 

Together, the twins earned liberal arts degrees at Hastings College. Now they work together as certified nursing assistants at Methodist Hospital, and they are classmates in the BSN program at Nebraska Methodist College. 

“Nursing runs in our blood,” Jane said.