YOUNGSTOWN — Before students in Youngstown State University’s Centofanti School of Nursing check the first pulses, draw the first vials of blood or handle the first tracheostomy tubes, they must have internalized a series of intangibles.

“Empathy, compassion and communication skills are taught as soon as they start in our program,” Nancy Wagner, who leads the program in YSU’s Cushwa Hall, said.

Wagner, of Liberty, stresses such a holistic approach for her undergraduate and graduate students to ensure they first absorb then apply the important necessities of developing a good bedside manner. These include using the correct words with patients and their families and knowing how to handle difficult and dying patients, as well as the intricacies of working with pediatric and elderly patients, she noted.

For her leadership in the nursing school – which has resulted in increased enrollment, expanded community outreach and greater funding – Wagner was recently named the first James P. Tressel Endowed Chair in Leadership recipient.

The award was established earlier this year, courtesy of a $1.6 million gift from several Youngstown Foundation trustees, to recognize the YSU president’s 35 years of leadership at the university and in the region. The honor will be bestowed yearly upon department chairs with established records of outstanding leadership, the university noted in a statement.

“Ellen and I are proud to have Nancy as the first Tressel Endowed Chair. The chairs of our academic departments on campus are the frontline leaders who have the potential to most impact our students, faculty and academic programs, so it is appropriate that we recognize and help advance their work,” Tressel said.

Soon after graduating from Villa Maria (Pa.) High School in 1973, Wagner began her career with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where she spent 12 years largely as a specialty registered nurse with children who had cystic fibrosis. After moving to the Mahoning Valley, she worked at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital with infants and taught courses on newborn education.

Wagner earned a master’s degree in nursing from Indiana University in Bloomington, then her doctor of nursing practice in 2009 from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

The Centofanti School of Nursing is an elaborate and sophisticated program that consists of three laboratories and an observation room. The John and Dorothy Masternick Nursing Simulation Laboratory, the newest of the three, contains several high-fidelity “manikins” representing different ages and with built-in computers the students can use for everything from cleaning tracheostomy tubes to taking vital signs. Manikins are similar to mannequins where they are human-shaped models used to simulate the human body. Instead of being used to show off clothing, manikins are used to help simulate medical, surgical, or clinical scenarios.

The manikins also are equipped to speak — simulating a real patient’s needs and discomforts, for example — which gives the students a better understanding of how to prioritize on the spot and work quickly and efficiently, Wagner explained.

“This is an acceptable form of education for clinicals,” she said, adding that students also are to offer feedback to one another.

The original lab functions similarly and can hold up to 20 students at a time. They learn and practice inserting intravenous lines, reading eye charts and learning to dispense medications.

The third facility, which is smaller and was a computer room, provides changeable scenarios to fit what they are learning for a given week. The the skill sets they practice include changing wound dressings, giving injections and cleaning tracheostomy tubes, Wagner continued.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic closed the labs for a few months, but did not result in a decrease in interest for the program. The number of applications received has remained relatively constant, she explained.

“There’s been a lot of interest, because people wanted to help out,” Wagner said.

In addition, the nursing school partnered with the Youngstown City Health District to set up a vaccination clinic in Beeghly Center, for which her students volunteered. They administered about 4,800 injections of the Moderna vaccine to those affiliated with YSU, she recalled.

The Centofanti School of Nursing has more than 585 undergraduate and graduate students who provide close to 95,000 community-service hours to the Mahoning Valley each academic year.

Since becoming chairwoman in 2013, the nursing school has formed a Doctor of Nursing Practice for anesthesia students, completed a fully online completion program and earned full accreditation via the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

The program also allows for clinical groups of eight to 10 students who can work in area hospitals, she said.

YSU’s nursing program was established in 1967 for students to earn associate degrees in nursing before a bachelor’s degree program was offered in 1984, she continued.

Wagner added she was “very honored, overwhelmed and excited” to be the first Tressel Endowed Chair in Leadership awardee, but said the honor extends far beyond her.

“The award is not just about me; it’s about our faculty and staff who make this program run beautifully,” Wagner said.

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