The Chaminade Student Nurses’ Association (SNA) will be recognized by the National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) as one of its Stellar School Chapters at the NSNA 67th Annual Convention next month. According to Chaminade’s chief nurse administrator and nursing professor Edna Magpantay-Monroe, Chaminade is the first school in Hawaii to receive this designation.
Stellar School Chapters are recognized for their continuing participation and contribution to the national association, and for their dedication to shared governance and professional development.
Schools that applied for this award were assessed based on five categories of criteria such as official constituency status and chapter leadership participation, and NSNA program involvement and service learning. Applicants were required to submit explanations and evidentiary material that demonstrated how they met the criteria.
Completing the application for the Stellar School Chapter Recognition was a team effort for Chaminade’s SNA. Club president Spencer Lee spearheaded the effort under the direction of faculty advisors Lorin Ramocki and Sharon Jensen.
Jensen will be taking a group of Chaminade nursing students to the NSNA convention on April 3-7 in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they will accept the award. Chaminade is one of eight schools to receive the Stellar School Chapter Recognition this year.
The NSNA Annual Convention provides more than 3,000 nursing students with an opportunity to attend workshops and network. NSNA consists of 60,000 members from all 50 states as well as from the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Chaminade HOSA-Future Health Professionals club began in the spring semester of 2018. By summer, they had two wins under their belt from a statewide and international competition.
Chaminade’s HOSA club competed and placed in the Public Health and Extemporaneous Health Poster categories. A team of seven students, led by HOSA club president Rosemarie Maltezo, won first place for their Public Health team video presentation on disaster preparedness. Sophomore Jeni Marin Ruis won second place for her live poster presentation on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 6|18 Initiative, which aims to reduce healthcare costs by addressing six expensive health conditions like asthma and high blood pressure.
Congratulations to Eurina Cha, assistant professor in the Chaminade 
Eurina is currently in a Ph.D. program and writing her dissertation on cervical cancer perceptions, behaviors and challenges among Korean American immigrant women in Hawaii. Eurina is an Advanced Public Health nurse and has a strong passion for helping underserved populations and bringing diversity to nursing education.
Chaminade faculty and staff gathered on campus with families from across the state to celebrate the new class of scholars and officially welcome them to the Chaminade ‘ohana. The dinner began with a traditional oli led by returning scholars and Kahoalii Keahi-Wood, cultural engagement specialist at Chaminade University.
The Ho‘oulu Scholarship is a partnership between Chaminade University and Kamehameha Schools to build a new generation of Hawaiian scientists, health practitioners, forensic specialists, environmental professionals and business leaders. Students who are accepted into the program receive full tuition assistance, consideration for a housing stipend and wraparound academic support.Livingston “Jack” Wong, CEO of Kamehameha Schools, inspired the students to work hard and compete. “If you work hard and compete,” he said, “you can do anything.”