1. March 6, 2014
Re: Shaina Brickner Recommendation
To Whom It May Concern:
I had the privilege of being Shaina’s nursing instructor both in the classroom and the clinical setting during her
undergraduate nursing education (2008-2013). Biola University is an undergraduate nursing program which
consists of two years of pre-nursing courses and then three years of clinical nursing. I had Shaina in the class
room and in the clinical setting for Physical Assessment during her first year in the clinical nursing program
(2010) and for Pediatric Nursing during her second year in the clinical program (2012). She has always been a
thoughtful, mature student and will make an excellent nurse!
Shaina was unique to her peers in that she got married before entering the clinical portion of the program
and then became pregnant during the second half of her second year in the clinical program. This gave her
a level of maturity above many of her peers. As a newlywed at the time she started clinical nursing, she
was able to manage her time well between her school responsibilities, her wife role, and the various other
tasks she was involved in – including being a mentor and partner in her husband’s church ministry. Then
being able to complete her second year while pregnant and finish her last year in clinical nursing as a
young mother shows what a well-organized and strong student she was.
Shaina strives for excellence in all that she does. In her pediatric rotation, Shaina was far above her peers
in her ability to see the big picture and putting everything together including developmental assessments
and application. She was confident and yet an eager student who asked good questions and grew in her
understanding of her patient’s condition and needs. She worked well with a variety of nurses and had very
thorough, complete clinical packets from the beginning. She was always ready to give shift report and
completed thorough assessments of each of her patients. Overall Shaina demonstrated excellent nursing
care for her pediatric patients and evaluations from her other clinical instructors show similar trends. She
will be an outstanding nurse!
She is committed to practicing safe, excellent nursing. Shaina is also very self-motivated and pleasant to
work with; she is one who is always supporting or encouraging others either by her words or her actions. I
recommend her without any reservations.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions.
Sincerely,
Rachel Van Niekerk, PhD, MSN, RN C-PNP
Associate Professor
Biola University Department of Nursing