GOSHEN, Ind. – Goshen College nursing students will focus on holistic nursing as they gather for the annual Nursing Mock Convention on Friday, Feb. 11. The event will take place in the Church-Chapel Fellowship Hall, beginning at 7:45 a.m. and lasting until 4:30 p.m. Throughout the mock convention, titled “Stepping into the unknown: Holistic nursing in a changing healthcare system,” participants will debate student-proposed resolutions about topics such as the need for cultural competency among nurses, mandatory overtime and mandatory criteria for emergency room admission.

“As we prepare for the Department of Nursing’s 40^th Mock Convention, many issues that were debated in years past are still relevant today,” wrote senior Rachel Yoder, president of the Mock Convention Executive Board. “However, we hope that today we can go even further and ‘step into the unknown,’ discussing challenging issues as the current healthcare climate around us changes.”

Before discussing the resolutions, Barbara Baker will offer a keynote address, titled “Building a Blueprint for the Future of Nursing.” Baker is the director of nursing for the St. Joseph County Health Department in South Bend. She oversees public health nursing, immunizations, the tuberculosis clinic, STD/HIV programs and the maternal/child health division. She also serves as chairperson of a multi-county immunization task force, which addresses problems with the under-immunization of children and adolescents in Northern Indiana. Additionally, Baker is the vice chair of the Indiana Immunization Coalition. Throughout her nursing career, Baker has given numerous presentations related to women’s health, immunizations and public health issues.

Senior Reuben Maldonado-Nofziger, executive director of the Mock Convention Board, wrote to Goshen College’s nursing students: “By learning about and discussing the issues, using our distinguished nursing training from Goshen College, we can take a comprehensive look at these current topics. Our consciousness, acknowledging our place as global citizens, takes us beyond the immediate effects that our actions may have on the community and help us make the conscious decisions we will make.”

The first mock convention program took place in 1973, with initiation from Mervin Helmuth, associate professor of nursing. The annual convention is unique to Goshen College and significantly contributes to student participation in professional nursing organizations. Goshen College nursing alumni have a 41 percent membership in their professional organizations, compared with the national rate of 20 percent.