KING’S COLLEGE- Greater Nanticoke Area alum Samantha Labenski was featured on the cover of King’s Magazine summer 2019 issue “Caring for the Community, Health Sciences at King’s.”

Samantha is a part of the inaugural RN to BS in the nursing program at King’s College. This program is a 1-2-1 dual degree nursing program that works in part with Luzerne County Community College’s nursing program.

For Samantha, this program gives the opportunity to earn not one, but two degrees. After her third year, she will graduate with an associate’s degree in nursing from L.C.C.C. and be able to take the RN-NCLEX exam to become a licensed Registered Nurse.

During her final year at King’s, Samantha has the opportunity to work as a nurse while also completing the final requirements to obtain her BSN degree. The nursing program at L.C.C.C. is highly competitive. The good thing about being in this program is that it ensures a spot in the nursing program once the entrance exam is passed.

The GNA Insider sat down with Samantha to ask her some questions:

Did you have a different career path chosen before this program, or were you a part of a different nursing program?

In high school, I was deciding between going to college to become a surgical technologist or a nurse. By the time the fall semester came around and I was taking Anatomy and Physiology at L.C.C.C., I knew I wanted to go into nursing. When I heard about this new program on the rise, I thought it would be perfect for me, so I applied as soon as King’s began accepting applications! 

Is the workload to get this degree immense since it requires a minimum of 128 credits?

Yes, it’s an immense amount of work. Normal core classes are 3 credits, but nursing classes are worth 9 credits. One nursing course consists of 3 classes all in one, a 4.5-hour lecture, a 2-hour lab, and a 6-12 hour clinical day. Social lives do not exist for nursing students! There is a lot of sacrificing involved to succeed in nursing; you need to have a lot of self-discipline. You can relax and regain your social life after you graduate with your degree. Nursing school is a different breed of education. It’s not about memorizing definitions; it’s all about critical thinking, clinical judgment and applying your knowledge and skill to not only your exams, but in real life while you’re caring for your patients.

How does it feel to be featured on the cover of the King’s Magazine summer 2019 issue? 

I was shocked to find out that I was on the cover. I had no idea! It’s truly an honor to be featured on the cover promoting this new program. The King’s magazine is sent out to the parents of current students and to all alumni. I knew our pictures would be featured in the magazine but I never thought I’d be on the cover!

During your time at GNA, what types of classes helped you with your current studies at kings?

English definitely helped me the most. In college, you’re constantly writing papers! 

Would you consider GNA to have been a strong building block to prepare you for college?

College is different than high school, but GNA definitely prepared me academically.

Do you have any advice for current GNA students that might be entering this major?

Apply to a hospital or nursing home and work as a nursing assistant! I’ve been working at the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital as a nursing assistant for over a year now and it has prepared me a lot for clinical. Working as a nurse’s aide will help you decide whether you really want to become a nurse. It takes a special kind of person to do this work! You’ll also gain so much experience which will help you throughout your journey in the nursing program. Take as many general core classes your first year to lighten your workload for the following years! Nursing classes require a lot of studying and work. So if you can, take most of your cores before you jump into those nursing courses because it will help you in the long run!