Special Suturing Class

Sitting on the Advisory Board of a nursing school might entail giving advice or raising money. Rarely, though, does it involve pigs’ feet.

Then again, not every Advisory Board is fortunate enough to join forces with Craig Haba ’91. Haba, who graduated with a degree in economics, is now a marketing director at Syneture, the suture and biosurgery division of U.S. Surgical. Throughout his career, he has been a firm supporter of Fairfield University in general and of the School of Nursing in particular.  He and Dr. Jeanne Novotny, dean, had discussed ways in which the School of Nursing and U.S. Surgical might collaborate.

“It was very fortuitous when Craig came on the scene and suggested doing a wound healing class for us,” says Dr. Meredith Wallace, associate professor and the Elizabeth DeCamp McInerney Professor of Health Sciences. “We had previously identified a lack of suturing skills among our students and that was a hole we wanted to address.” While it is not part of the standard nursing curriculum, she explains, nurse practitioners are often called upon to do minor suturing once they’re out in the field.

As for the class itself, “Wow, what he was able to offer!” says Dr. Wallace with unabashed enthusiasm. “Not only did he teach, he brought all the latest equipment so our students could become comfortable with it. He also brought two colleagues from the Syneture team, so that our student/teacher ratio was favorable. And he brought the pigs’ feet.”

The class included a “wet lab” where students not only learned about new sutures, suture needles, and biosurgery technologies such as topical tissue adhesive, “they also got a hands-on opportunity to suture and close wounds on the pigs' feet; which look and feel similar to skin,” explains Haba, noting that this class is one that is normally taught to surgical residents and medical school students. “We thought the nursing students at Fairfield would find it valuable to better understand suture and needle technologies available today. They asked great questions, and developed new perspective of the science of wound healing and closure.” Colleagues Mike Ianniruberto and Marcellus Willis assisted Haba in teaching the class.

After a short lecture, students got to work, spending two hours cutting, suturing, tying and even gluing.  Michelle Leonard, an RN who is back at Fairfield for her M.S., is sure her new skills are ones she’ll be using if she goes back to working in a family practice setting. “Once patients get to know you, they’re much more comfortable having you suture in the office than facing the emergency room,” she says, adding that “what was so great about this class was the immediate skill learned. And with so many nurses being called to respond in an emergency situation, such as Katrina, these skills will be so important.”

“To offer the class, and to offer it so well, was a tremendous service to our students,” says Dr. Wallace, who freely admits she’d like to have this guest lecturer back for a repeat performance. “The more we can expose our students to in a supervised environment, the better prepared they will be in their jobs. It not only raises their level of expertise, it raises their confidence. And with such expert instruction, it’s our students who really benefit.”