Column | What it means to be a Black nurse

By Danae Poteat, Senior Staff Columnist • March 30, 2026

Senior staff columnist Danae Poteat discusses the personal experiences she has had while being a black woman in healthcare

Pitt named one of best schools for male nurses for fifth consecutive year

By Bridget Pohl, Staff Writer  • November 7, 2025

Pitt’s School of Nursing earned national recognition from the Association of Men in Nursing as one of the best schools nationwide for male nurses. As overall enrollment rises, male nursing students say the growing program creates a tight-knit community among their peers through clubs and patient care.

Column | Finally finding my nursing niche

By Danae Poteat, Senior Staff Writer • October 27, 2025

For the first two years of undergrad, I felt conflicted towards my nursing degree. There were times when I had felt excited, confused, anxious and just outright overwhelmed with everything going on. Still,...

Opinion | The pressure to go to grad school as a nursing student

By Danae Poteat, Senior Staff Columnist • March 24, 2025

There is a strange pressure in nursing academia to push yourself out of bedside nursing as soon as possible. More experienced nurses will tell you that bedside nursing should not be what you do for the rest of your life and that you’ll be miserable if you try to stick with it. It’s almost like a coercion statement they make to put in your head that you’ll never be happy unless you get a master's degree.

‘UPMC is leaving us with no other choice’: Western Psychiatric nurses authorize strike over staffing crisis

By Delaney Pipon, Staff Writer • October 18, 2024

Nurses at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, along with elected officials and mental health advocates, gathered outside the hospital on O’Hara Street Wednesday afternoon to rally for improved staffing and wages as contract negotiations with UPMC continue.

Opinion | Navigating mental health during nursing school

By Danae Poteat, Senior Staff Columnist • October 15, 2024

When I first started nursing school, I knew I would be in for the ride of my life. I knew that nursing school would involve taking challenging classes, studying for hours on end and being put through the wringer. But what I didn’t anticipate was how this would heavily affect my mental health.

‘The more you do it, the more you get used to it’: Nursing students discuss balancing clinicals, academics

By Anna Kuntz, Senior Staff Writer • September 26, 2024

As part of Pitt’s BSN program, which is ranked 10th in the nation, students are required to complete more than 1,200 hours of clinical rotations during their time at the University, typically starting in the first semester of sophomore year.

Opinion | Things you learn your first year of nursing school

By Danae Poteat, Staff Columnist • August 5, 2024

I was top of my class in high school, and I took AP classes and aced every single one of them. Nursing school couldn’t be that bad.  But it was, in fact, that bad.

Pitt faculty members present new ‘Happiness and Human Flourishing’ course for spring semester

By Toni Jackson, Staff Writer • December 7, 2022

After teaching courses on mental health, Pitt professors Grant Martsolf, Ryan McDermott and David Sanchez set out to create an intersectional course promoting happiness for students' lives. “Happiness and Human Flourishing” debuts next spring.

‘There’s no gender to it’: Pitt named top school for men in nursing

By Donata Massimiani, Senior Staff Writer • December 2, 2022

The American Association for Men in Nursing recognized Pitt’s School of Nursing as one of the top programs for men in nursing in the country. This is Pitt’s first time receiving the honor, and a total of 10 universities made the list for 2022.