Rebuilding our Sigma chapter after the pandemic was a daunting task. For what seemed like months on end, all meetings and activities were overshadowed by the continued worry about COVID-19 and the impact it was having on our fellow nurses. Without our usual touchpoints, students struggled to see the value in joining our honor society, especially when the DePaul Student Nursing Association was open to all, starting in a student’s first quarter. The big question remained, “How do we get students, especially our master’s and doctoral students, to value scholarship and leadership again?”
Slowly and steadily our chapter has been making progress toward once again having an active membership. Our chapter has tried hard to be more visible on campus, which is challenging because there isn’t a physical space where our nursing students gather. Publicizing our presence and activities on campus took several forms, both virtual and physical. For example, as president, I tried to post a monthly update in the “Chapter News” section of Sigma Update in addition to quarterly emails to our entire chapter membership. Regarding physical publicity, we created and displayed posters about Sigma at various nursing-sponsored events, like our white coat ceremony and our school’s annual Grace Peterson Research Day. (Grace Peterson was a founding member of our chapter.)
In 2023, we achieved success when two recent graduates of our Master’s Entry to Nursing program answered the chapter-wide call to run for a board position. They have been active contributors at board meetings, bringing fresh perspectives and new ideas.
The momentum started to pick up in early 2024. In February, 40 students registered for one of our events! Based on an idea presented in a board meeting, we hosted a networking event with three recent graduates discussing their transition from student to working nurse. Both of our new board members and recent graduates themselves contributed to the success of this event. One helped with publicity by creating a flyer and arranged for a speaker, and another volunteered to speak with our students in case one of our original panelists could not make the revised date. In the spirit of joining forces, we invited the DePaul Student Nursing Association members to join us as well. The current students asked many great questions. Everyone enjoyed the event so much that we are considering doing this again in early 2025!
During Nurses Week in May 2024, our chapter sponsored a “Water, Walking, and Wonder Challenge” with prizes for the winners. Our vice president and leadership chair (a recent graduate) volunteered to manage this event. We kicked off the week with a virtual session on self-care for nurses, utilizing a board member who received a small grant from our chapter last year to research mindfulness in nursing. Then throughout the week, four teams completed a series of tasks designed to invoke wonder and keep participants hydrated and moving. They tracked their water intake and daily steps and uploaded their moments of wonder to a shared document. The first place team walked a collective 268,643 steps, drank 2,211 ounces of water, and witnessed 176 acts of wonder! Prizes for the winners were simple but included a Sigma T-shirt, DePaul merchandise, a stethoscope pin, and a restaurant gift card.
We ended the academic year by inducting 33 new members! We hope the momentum carries over into the 2024-2025 academic year as our chapter continues to build back an active membership. We look forward to involving more current and former students in our next chapter election in 2025.
Michelle Neuman, MA, DNP, RN, PPCNP-BC, is an assistant professor at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is the chapter president of Sigma’s Zeta Sigma Chapter.