Penn Nursing Updates: Week of January 25th
Dear Penn Nursing Students,
Welcome back to the Spring 2021 semester! I hope your semester is off to a good start as we complete our first full week of the semester. Please see important updates below.
Information Updates:
- Use of PennOpen Pass: All students must continue to use PennOpen Pass on a daily basis. A Green Pass is required to enter University buildings, your clinical sites, and/or to board Penn Transit, even for those who only occasionally make campus visits. Reporting symptoms or exposure in PennOpen Pass also expedites access to the clinical guidance of Penn Medicine/SHS clinicians, and diagnostic testing if necessary.
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Mask, Distance, Wash - Best practices while inside Fagin Hall: As a reminder, we’re asking everyone who is in the building at any time to practice the Penn Cares Actions to Keep the Penn Community Healthy which include:
- To congregate only in designated outdoor and indoor areas of campus, wearing a facial covering, maintaining adequate physical distance, and complying with all signage;
- To sit only in seats designated and clearly marked as available in classrooms and other campus buildings;
- To follow procedures for entering and exiting classrooms and for entering and exiting rows of seating in classrooms, which will be clearly marked on signs in and around classrooms;
- To follow procedures for entering and exiting campus buildings, which will be visible on signs near the entrances and exits of campus buildings.
- Vaccines: Students who will be in clinical rotations during the Spring 2021 semester have received additional information about the COVID vaccine via email. Please be sure to read your email each day for this important information to ensure you complete both doses of the vaccine.
- University COVID Testing: All BSN and ABSN students must complete COVID testing twice per week (unless you have recently tested positive for COVID - then please follow the guidance of Campus Health). All MSN and DNP students with clinical placements in the City of Philadelphia for Spring 2021 must test once per week (unless you have recently tested positive for COVID – then please follow the guidance of Campus Health). Any questions about testing, please email covidtesting@upenn.edu.
- Staying Involved at Penn Nursing: As a reminder, all students have an opportunity to get involved at Penn Nursing. On, Wednesday 1/27/2021, the existing Penn Nursing student organizations met with Dean Sochalski and me to discuss updates around student testing/vaccines, library access and spring 2021 wellness initiatives. Students are encouraged to reach out to these student leaders to find out more. You can find a comprehensive list of student leaders online here.
- Penn Nursing COVID-19 Scholarship: The Penn Nursing COVID-19 Scholarship Fund was created as an emergency source of financial aid for our students facing financial hardship related to the global pandemic. If you have emergency financial needs, you can write an email to Antoinette Oteri (oteri@nursing.upenn.edu) explaining the financial hardship that you are facing due to COVID-19. The email you provide will be your application. For more information on scholarships, please visit the Financial Aid website.
Upcoming Events/Activities:
- Friday, January 29 (4-5:30pm)– Penn Nursing’s Annual Commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Nursing and Social Justice: Past, Present, and Future Legacies More information
- Wednesday, February 3 - Research and Innovation Colloquium: The Office of Nursing Research invites all students to the next virtual colloquium event. All attendees must pre-register online to attend and can view more information from past colloquium’s online.
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Wednesday, February 3 (& ongoing) Weekly Virtual Financial Aid Student Hours: All nursing students are invited to sign on with the Financial Aid team each Wednesday this Spring. The team welcomes all inquiries, and plans to respond ‘generally’ to protect personal information (specific follow up will be scheduled with a 1:1 appointment). Please join us at 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. via Bluejeans.
- Please save this information for your quick reference.
- Meeting URL - https://bluejeans.com/8064576986?src=join_info
- Meeting ID: 806 457 6986
- Want to dial in from a phone? Dial one of the following numbers:
- +1.408.419.1715 (United States(San Jose))
- +1.408.915.6290 (United States(San Jose))
- Enter the meeting ID and passcode followed by #
The Office of Academic Affairs will continue to send regular email announcements which can be found archived online. As always, we are available for virtual appointments or by email. You can find a full listing of departmental contacts online here.
Please continue to wear your masks, wash your hands and practice physical distancing in order to keep our Penn Community, our West Philadelphia neighbors and our patients safe. I know you’ll be good public health ambassadors for our campus – setting the example by modeling the best public health guidance for Penn students in non-health schools.
Best wishes for the spring semester – I miss seeing you in person 😊
Christina M. Costanzo, EdD
Assistant Dean for Admissions & Academic Affairs