By CORKY HALL
Ryan Sand, a veteran emergency care provider with nearly 20 years experience, has joined Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s nursing faculty this semester.
Sand has started teaching graduate nursing courses. As an assistant professor of nursing, he is teaching theory for advanced nursing practice and advanced research methods.
Sand started his medical career in 2005 as a paramedic. He later earned an associate degree from Rose State College and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
He continued his education with a master’s degree from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo, Utah, where he completed family nurse practitioner training and an emergency nurse practitioner certificate. Sand also earned a DNP from Arkansas State University, and while finishing off his last year of school, he completed an adult gerontology acute nurse practitioner program through the University of Tulsa.
Sand said his decision to teach at Northwestern was influenced by his work at Share Medical Center and professional ties to the Alva area. He previously worked with Survival Flight and served as a regional director when the helicopter service was established at the hospital.
“ I really liked the Alva area, and I’m already frequently at the ER here,” Sand said. “When they had a position open, and I knew a few of the people who teach here, I thought this might be a great fit.”
Sand’s primary goal as a new faculty member is ensuring students have everything they need to succeed and progress through their course work.
He said he is particularly interested in teaching nursing theory, noting how abstract concepts can lead to real-world improvement.
“It’s fun to see how people can take a theory that’s kind of an abstract concept and then turn that into process improvements in healthcare,” Sand said.
In addition to classroom instruction, Sand is excited about teaching practical skills during on-campus residency sessions in July, including suturing and other clinical procedures.
Outside of the classroom Sand balances his responsibilities with a large family that includes seven children and two grandchildren.
Sand noted that Northwestern’s emphasis on rural health care aligns with his professional values and background.
“I really like the focus of the nursing department here, being focused on rural healthcare,” Sand said. “With all of the healthcare shortages that we have, I think that’s an incredibly valuable focus for a nurse practitioner program to have. The more good, well-trained nurse practitioners we can put into rural environments, I think the healthier we’re going to have our small communities.”
Sand said strengthening rural healthcare is especially meaningful because he grew up in a similar-sized community.
Contact Sand at rmsand@nwosu.edu.
Students: Habitudes, finance most helpful classes
By JOHN STOWERS
NWOSU students said habitudes and personal finance were the classes that have helped them the most.
Everyone has a favorite class, or a class that they enjoy the most, but there’s a difference between favorite class and most helpful class.
Students determine helpfulness in varying ways. One student said that his professor helped him have a new outlook on life, while another student said his class helped him know more about his desired career.
Most students, however, judged helpfulness based on if their respective classes helped them learn new personal skills.
“My speech class has helped me a lot,” said Mya Collins a freshman business major. “I have been, I guess, shy and I usually don’t really like to talk in front of people, so I guess that helped me come out and do more speeches.”
Another skill that some students learned was leadership. Ella Bowers, a senior psychology major, is one such student. Bowers said her habitudes class taught her how to be a good communicator, how to be a good leader and how to work well with others.
Sierra Caldwell, a classmate of Bowers’ and junior psychology major, also said that habitudes was the class that has helped her the most.
“Habitudes… taught me a lot about leadership with myself and leadership with others,” Caldwell said.
NWOSU also offers a personal finance class that teaches students about the do’s and don’ts of finance in the real world.
“I’ve been taking personal fiance, and that’s kind of been opening my eyes to how the world works, and what you can do, what you’re not supposed to do, what’s smart to do, what’s dumb to do,” said Antonio Lisenbee, a senior business major.
Other students, like Briana Lopez, said that Composition 1 helped them to write with confidence.
Habitudes, personal finance and composition 1 are general education requirements.