Caitlin Whyte (Host): Get ready to go behind the scenes of nursing education as the In Their Words podcast pulls back the curtain with a very special guest. Joining us is Penny Lenig-Zerby, the esteemed Director of the School of Nursing at UPMC Shadyside at UPMC Harrisburg. In this illuminating episode, Penny offers a rare insider's perspective into the world of training the next generation of healthcare heroes. She'll share fascinating insights about the exceptional caliber of students at UPMCs Shadyside and the incredible opportunities available to them.

 But Penny's insights go beyond just the academic experience. She'll highlight the pivotal role the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation plays in empowering the nursing school to mold top tier talent. Thanks to their support, UPMC Shadyside is answering the call to address staffing needs across central Pennsylvania.

Prepare for an eyeopening look at how philanthropic organizations like the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation are the backbone, enabling institutions to carry out their vital missions. You'll walk away with a profound appreciation for the enduring impact of their generosity. Whether you're a healthcare professional, a student or simply someone passionate about quality education and patient care; you won't want to miss Penny's candid discussion.

Penny Lenig-Zerby, Director UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing: Okay, my name is Dr. Penny Lenig-Zerby. All the students do call me Dr. LZ. I'm new to UPMC family. I came November 2021, and I was tasked with starting a brand new UPMC School of Nursing here in Central PA. My background, I was a double major in college, so I majored in nursing. I got my BSN in nursing as well as education.

I constantly did both. If I taught school, I was working weekends and holidays at the hospital. So I've always been doing education and nursing at the same time. Then eventually I did administration. I was a Principal. I was a Superintendent. I worked in higher ed and this job came through on LinkedIn and it checked all of my boxes, nursing, education, and administration. So it's actually really my dream job. It's like I won the lottery coming here to the UPMC School of Nursing.

I was always very active in health, you know, exercise, being healthy and just always in service as well, just wanting to help others. So really nursing was the route that I started taking. And then in my nursing program, we had to do a teaching learning activity and I went to a preschool and I realized how much, not only did I like nursing, I really found a passion for education as well. So my second year in college, I did pick up a second major of education then as well.

But they're very similar. You do a lesson plan, you do a care plan, you know, you set learning goals, you set wellness goals. So, teaching and nursing are extremely similar. Well, there are no typical days at the School of Nursing but we really try to be very proactive. I have an exceptional staff. The people who came on board to work at a school that didn't even exist yet, speaks volumes for the dedication of the staff that I have here. So a typical day is quickly checking my emails, going in and out of the classrooms, trying to get into the clinical sites as well, and doing a lot of collaboration with my faculty and staff to make sure that we're all on the same page and that we're providing excellent education to our students and also have that shared vision of we want the students to succeed and we want the school to succeed.

Caitlin Whyte (Host): One of the biggest healthcare crises facing our nation is the severe shortage of nurses able to meet increasing patient demands. This sobering reality hit the central Pennsylvania region, especially hard in recent years. However the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing was founded to be part of the solution to this alarming problem. Penny sheds light on the dire circumstances that created an urgent need for an institution to develop new nursing talent locally.

Penny Lenig-Zerby, Director UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing: There's definitely a nursing shortage and UPMC is no different than any other hospital. They're short nurses as well. So, we really were developed to really provide a pipeline to produce UPMC nurses. So, when we're in the hospital setting, we are using UPMC goals, visions, and missions. We use the AIDIT. We do the rounding. So, even though we're doing critically thinking nursing goals for every way to pass the NCLEX; we also are sprinkling it with UPMC visions and goals as well. So that's how the whole thought of the school began was just really creating that pipeline for ourselves.

Oh, my word, most everybody in the Foundation are goddesses. Every time I ask for something, they are so willing to help. I really think the relationship that we have with the Foundation, fundraising, and my staff, we try to help out with the fundraisers as well. It's again, it's also a shared vision with the Foundation and the hospital and the school.

We're all trying to make the UPMC family bigger and better but the Foundation is truly a cornerstone in the success of our school. Without the Foundation, I wouldn't have some of the equipment that I have. We wouldn't be able to provide some of the better technologies without the Foundation's money and dedication.

So we are extremely indebted to the Foundation with their support and all that they're doing for us. It's extremely humbling because if you think about it, I was in a closet at Brady when we started building this school, and not only did the faculty and staff take a leap of faith, so did the students. So I'm indebted to the students for taking that risk of coming to the UPMC School of Nursing simply because each year we're learning and growing and doing things differently. So, and a lot of them are coming to UPMC.

Host: While numbers and statistics help quantify the critical need for more nurses, it's the individual stories and personal journeys that truly illuminate the impact of the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing.

Penny Lenig-Zerby, Director UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing: I have one in particular you know, she had a very difficult time. Our first graduation is going to be in December. And right now, I was just working on a PowerPoint for graduation and just watching the students grow, become critical thinking nurses and just really being very ready to be nurses, and, she had a very difficult time not being as successful as she wanted to be. And we met many times, you know, working on skills and trying to really get her to the point where she needed to be, and um, it was near the end, and I said to her, you know, maybe you should drop a class, so you can concentrate on one.

So at least, you know, you're definitely going to do well in one class. And she said to me, she was, I'm going to prove you wrong. And I'm like, oh, okay. And she definitely proved me wrong. And she is successful. She used a lot of prayer to get through it, but she did definitely prove me wrong. So, you know, perseverance.

Nursing school is not easy. Even if you have a wonderful life, it's still hard. You still need that support system and we developed a really good relationship just by meeting and talking and having her prove me wrong that she was going to do this and she did.

Well, I say we're a 16 month diploma program on steroids. We take 24 months worth of education and put it into 16 months and we don't take anything out. And the other part being on steroids, we also offer college credits. Not every diploma program offers college credits, so when you walk out our door, you are on your way to getting your BSN or your Associate's, whatever pathway you want to take. So, it is accelerated, and it is tough. And I think that builds character, and it builds students with stamina and perseverance that can make safe critical thinking decisions in an emergency situation.

If I hire a new staff member, I always send them a card welcoming them into the team. But I say, we are building a Harrisburg nursing dynasty. That's what I see here. I see people flocking to this school because we are providing an excellent education in a short amount of time. And like I said, I see ourselves as a nursing dynasty here in Harrisburg. I think patients are getting sicker. They require more care. They require more complex treatments. So I think that's part of the reason. And also sometimes it's difficult to get people into the service industry.

I know some younger people, they had to work from home. They prefer working from home. So, providing a service to other people is not for everybody, which is unfortunate, because it's extremely rewarding. Well, during COVID, I was in the education arena. So it was a lot of thinking on your feet. How can we virtually provide the education that we need, to meet the curriculum goals. Now, I was not in this nursing school at the time. I was in a different school, but my friends who were on the floor in the thick of things, it was physically and mentally exhausting. There were so many unknowns and a lot of changes in policy.

What you thought was correct one week may have changed in the next week. And people, again, extremely sick, struggling, not knowing what to do. You know, we, as nurses, we always want to fix people, get them better. And, we have those learning goals and those care plans. Our goal is to get them well again. And, it took a toll on a lot of nurses because we didn't make everybody well.

Well, it's interesting. I was in a high school setting during COVID and I was teaching nursing foundations and one of my discussion questions was, has COVID dissuaded you of not wanting to become a nurse? And the majority of my students said, no, this inspires us. You know, we want to be part of the solution. So it really does take that person who's self-motivated and really, you know, they say nursing's the caring of the heart. Like, it's, you have to want to do it and you have to care. And sometimes you can't teach empathy to people. You have, it has to be in your heart to want to do it.

Host: For the outstanding students graduating from the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing, the world is truly their oyster, when it comes to kickstarting their healthcare careers. Penny clearly shows her pride as she highlights the remarkable pathways available to this elite group of nurses.

Penny Lenig-Zerby, Director UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing: The sky's the limit. Um, once you pass your NCLEX, you are a licensed RN. You can practice anywhere in the state of Pennsylvania. And like I said, since we have college credits as well, you're on your way to your BSN or your Associate's degree. Your limitation is your imagination. I mean, nurses do research.

They, some work from homes. You know, it's not just working in a doctor's office or a hospital. You can do home health. You can have your own consulting business. You can become an educator. We always forget to tell people that you can still be a nurse educator as well, or a nurse practitioner or a nurse anesthetist. There are so many options for nurses than there was in the past.

Host: For Penny, the calling to nurture and develop the next generation of nurses was deeply ingrained from an early age. You see a passion for healthcare is woven through the very fabric of her family.

Penny Lenig-Zerby, Director UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing: Well, my husband's also a nurse, and my sister's a nurse, and my one daughter's a nurse, so we're all very supportive of one another. We share trade secrets. We laugh together. We cry together. It's nice to have a nursing mentality in your family that you can support one another because being a nurse is a very unique career. You need to have a sense of humor but you also really need that support and just, also an educational, someone who you can bounce ideas off of. Like, I'm not an ICU nurse, but my husband is, and I review all of the tests. And so I give him the tests and I'm like, so we're constantly, nursing is not, is a lifelong learning profession. You don't just take the NCLEX and you don't have to learn anything ever again. You're constantly growing and learning. So it's nice to have that support system at home to be able to discuss nursing, new techniques, new medications, new treatments. So yeah, I guess I have a family of nurses.

Of all the things I've ever done, I enjoy being a mom, but I've never regretted going into nursing. That's an education that no one can take away from you. And it's an honorable profession. It's a rewarding career. Is it tough? Does it pull at your heartstrings? Yes. But I'm so glad the school is here that we can provide this opportunity to as many people as we can here in Central PA.

We opened our doors to 196 students in August, so we are really trying to create a pipeline to create nurses, but also give people an opportunity to have a career, get out of a bad situation. You know, for 16 months, I can change my life. Now it's going to be difficult and it's going to take a lot of hard work, but it can be done. And, people can sustain their lifestyle, by going into nursing.

Host: What an incredible glimpse we've gotten into the world of nursing education from Penny's insightful perspective as Director of the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing. Her passion for shaping the next generation of healthcare heroes has been truly inspiring.

From providing a sobering look at the nursing shortage crisis to celebrating the perseverance of her exceptional students; Penny painted a vivid picture of why initiatives like UPMC Shadyside are so vital.

Perhaps more importantly, Penny offered a rare window into the profound impact philanthropic organizations, like the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation have on enabling these nursing schools to fulfill their critical missions. Without their generous support, the future of healthcare would be far less certain.

If this episode reinvigorated your appreciation for the nursing profession or sparked your interest in supporting academic programs; we encourage you to share your thoughts and leave a review. . Your engagement allows In Their Words to continue bringing you more incredible insights from leaders like Penny. Thanks for listening.