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MSN Student Doesn’t Let Giving Birth Stop Her From Delivering Her Final Presentation
When Tara Poshefko gave birth to her son Declan the day before her last class, the dedicated nursing student didn't let that stop her from delivering her final presentation.
Tara Poshefko isn’t your average student. The word dedication doesn’t seem to do the master of science in nursing (MSN) student justice. Just ask her husband.
“She’s always been a go getter,” says Ryan Poshefko. “She’s striving to get that A every time. It just goes to show what kind of a student and person that Tara is.”
“[I decided] let’s just take my laptop into the hospital and log in. I just hoped for the best and it worked out.”
Poshefko’s classmates and professors in the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) track learned that firsthand during their final class. Just the day before, Poshefko had given birth to her and Ryan’s second child, a baby boy named Declan. The only problem—that last class was the culmination of their semester-long projects, and students had to present on their specific topic.
Karen Peterson, assistant professor and director of ACCESS nursing, gave Poshefko the opportunity to record her presentation, which focused on preventing infections from urinary catheters. But, being the student that she is, Poshefko—who had made sure her husband packed the laptop on the way to the hospital—decided to log into Zoom and give her presentation from her hospital bed.
“I’m not really tech savvy. I was looking at [recording] it,” she says. But ultimately, she decided “let’s just take my laptop into the hospital and log in. I just hoped for the best and it worked out.”
After presenting, Poshefko was able to show Declan off to her classmates. She even sent Peterson—who she credits with being supportive from the very start—a photo of Declan and big sister Anna.
“It’s just an exciting moment to be able to share that with one of your students. It was a great ending; it made my week.”
Poshefko earned the A that she’s always striving for. In addition to being a full-time mother and student, she also works in a surgical trauma ICU unit. For her, the option of flex classes—whereby students have the choice of sitting in a classroom or logging in remotely—is essential to completing her degree.
“It has been very, very helpful to be able to log in online, especially since I have an hour drive to get there. And with having two children, it’s made it a lot easier.”
