Quinnipiac University School of Nursing to induct more than 100 students into international honor society at March 22 ceremony

Linda Honan Pellico, associate professor at the Yale University School of Nursing, will discuss “The Looking is Not Seeing and Listening is Not Hearing Program” when she addresses the more than 100 Quinnipiac University School of Nursing students who will be inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International, the official honor society of nursing, on Saturday, March 22.

The induction ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. in the auditorium at the Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences on Quinnipiac’s North Haven Campus, 370 Bassett Road.  

“The ‘Looking is Not Seeing and Listening is Not Hearing Program’ uses art and music to support the development of nursing students’ physical assessment skills,” Pellico said.

Her research reveals that diagnostic observations can be significantly improved by training in the visual examination of works of art, that the narratives of student experiences can give insight into the process of learning nursing, and most recently, that aural training with music improves auscultative abilities.

Pellico is a clinical educator interested in how adults learn and how individuals come to embrace the nursing profession with compassion and competence. She is dedicated to understanding and developing effective and innovative techniques for clinical education in a multi-disciplinary environment. The graduating classes of 1996 and 2005 each awarded her the Annie W. Goodrich Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest honor a member of the Yale School of Nursing faculty can receive.

Pellico earned her nursing diploma from the Meriden-Wallingford Hospital School of Nursing, a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Southern Connecticut State University, and her master’s degree in nursing from Yale University School of Nursing as a general surgery clinical nurse specialist. She earned her doctorate at the University of Connecticut, where she studied the experiences of students enrolled in graduate-entry programs.

Membership into Sigma Theta Tau International is by invitation to baccalaureate and graduate nursing students who demonstrate excellence in academics and potential for scholarship, and to nurse leaders exhibiting exceptional achievements in nursing.

Sigma Theta Tau International is dedicated to supporting the learning, knowledge and professional development of nurses who are committed to making a difference in health worldwide. It is comprised of chapters that are located on more than 500 college and university campuses internationally.

Established in 2006, Quinnipiac's Tau Rho chapter is one of eight Sigma Theta Tau International society chapters in Connecticut.