In this Issue:

Ideas to Attract Students

Introduce others to your NCF chapter by having a fun event to ease the stress of end-of-semester exams. It's the holiday season, so what better time is there to do something on the lighter side?

• Exam Cram: Host a study session and provide snacks. Reserve a room for anyone who wants to study for exams. Create a brief skit or tell a funny nursing story to break up the study time. Give a short prayer for God's peace and good recall when taking exams. Here is A Prayer Before Study by St. Thomas Aquinas.
• Christmas Potluck: Share a meal or desserts together. Challenge everyone in your NCF chapter to bring one friend. Have a short devotional related to the true meaning of Christmas. Think of open-ended questions, such as inviting everyone to talk about a special family Christmas tradition.
• Host a speaker: Invite a nurse from the community to talk about integrating faith into nursing practice, mission trips, or local ministries to the poor and underserved. Allow time for Q & A.
• Focus on a hot topic in nursing: Promote your next meeting by featuring articles in the Journal of Christian Nursing.

At every gathering, remember to display NCF brochures and a Journal of Christian Nursing for students to look at. Personalize NCF business cards with the meeting schedule and location of your chapter.

Connecting Creatively

Overcome conflicting schedules. When your schedules don't match, think creatively to overcome hurdles to meet together:

• Connect anytime that works for you: early morning, for lunch, or after classes.
• Use the school's closed-circuit TV to meet with students in different buildings or on different campuses.
• Student leaders at each class level can lead a prayer group or Bible study, and all students could meet together once or twice a semester in the evening or on Saturday morning.
• Use email or Facebook to communicate.
• It's okay to change your meeting times as needed.

Work with the SNA on your campus!

• Schedule the NCF meeting either before or after the SNA meeting.
• Work together on a service project.
• Talk with SNA leaders to encourage them and show a spirit of cooperation.

Building Bridges of Diversity

Your group will want to minister to a variety of students. Here are some differences to watch for:

Traditional or Non-traditional
Many enter nursing school after graduating from high school as "traditional" students. However, with the nursing shortage and weak economy, many are choosing nursing as a second career or as an option after their kids are grown. Anyone in nursing school who is over the age of 26 could be considered "non-traditional".

Non-traditional students have different needs than those of traditional students. While both may be working to put themselves through school, often non-traditional students also have a family to care for. This additional responsibility can cause increased stress and limit the amount of time they are available to be involved with a group.

It's important for both kinds of students to be part of a group for support and encouragement, to help strengthen their faith and resolve to finish nursing school. Students who pray together for their classmates and teachers can have an impact for Jesus while they're in nursing school.

While non-traditional students may have more time constraints, they also can offer much to a group in the way of life experiences. Sharing the knowledge gained from these experiences with traditional students can be a positive way to connect a group.

Commuter or Residential
Developing a ministry for commuter students is a challenge. Often these students are "non-traditional", but they may also be traditional students trying to save money by living off campus.

Because commuting students do not live on campus, they generally leave campus after class or study time. Campus-based students may have more flexibility to meet in the evening, but a commuter student who leaves for a job or home won't return to campus for another meeting.

Solutions? Be creative. Try scheduling meetings in the morning before class starts, or during lunch time. If a community college offers evening classes for working students, consider meeting for a "brown bag dinner" before classes start in the evening for those coming from work.

Different Ethnicities
Many groups are comprised of people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. InterVarsity offers Building Bridges Diversity Guide (a guide for Small Group Leaders), which has suggestions on building bridges between Asian-American, Black, Latino and White students. It also has a section on how to build bridges between Roman Catholic and Protestant students when discussing faith.

Healthy You!

In a flight emergency, do you think it is selfish that adults are supposed to put on their oxygen masks first, and then assist with a child's mask? It's based on the principle that unless we take care of ourselves, we cannot in turn care for others. Be sure to care for yourself during this exam and holiday season. Get adequate rest, eat healthy, exercise and try to do something special for yourself every now and then.

Teaching Servant Leadership

Is "servant leadership" a concept that still has validity today?

If you're wondering how to teach this Biblical model to your students, check out this free article, "A New Culture of Leadership: Service Over Self" by Kamalini Kumar. It's from the Journal of Christian Nursing, January-March 2010.

Help your students see Jesus Christ as the ideal Servant Leader so they can model their lives after him.

Have ideas for Campus Vitals? Please send them to Bonnie. Thanks!

Campus Vitals has been compiled by:
Bonnie Hann, RN, BSN, BS-Missionary Nursing
NCF Campus Liaison
Email Bonnie