Student Achievements
Nursing Student Organizes Health Fair
March 15, 2014
Rebecca Sypniewski, a Kirkhof College of Nursing doctoral student,
has been both a provider of health care and a caregiver.
With those two lenses, Sypniewski said she sees how fragmented
the nation’s health care system is and she’s determined to do her part
to change that.
Sypniewski organized a health fair for senior citizens at
Evergreen Commons in Holland in mid-February. It was the first health
fair held at the senior citizen facility and it was a hit.
KCON nursing students helped Sypniewski lead sessions for
participants on osteoporosis, healthy eating, blood pressure
management, vision screening and other topics.
Sypniewski will be among the first graduates of KCON’s Doctor of
Nursing Practice program in April. She earned a bachelor’s degree in
nursing from Saint Mary’s College in 1996 and a master’s degree in
nursing from Grand Valley in 2003. She works at the GVSU Family Health
Center as a family nurse practitioner.
Her doctoral focus is elder health. “I would like to expand my
practice as a nurse practitioner to advocate for older adults,” she
said. “I would like to develop creative and innovative ways for older
adults to ‘age in place’ or live independently.”
Sypniewski’s mother, a retired physician, suffered a major stroke
in 2011. Following that experience, Sypniewski said it became more
evident to her how the health care system “does not meet the needs of
healthy elders or elders with health problems.”
“I have witnessed some of the challenges that are prominent
within health care,” she said. “For these reasons, it is important to
me that I continue to advocate for older adults.”
Linda Scott, professor and associate dean for graduate programs,
said the health fair model Sypniewski established for Evergreen was
based on client needs and an analysis of current literature.
“In addition to partnering with the community for health
promotion, her dissertation project allows the public to see how
nursing practice extends beyond the hospital to make a difference in
people’s lives,” Scott said, “and how having an advanced degree in
nursing can affect system change.”