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many Spanish-speaking patients. It feels like home.
“There was a language barrier, and I felt that even as a novice
nurse, I was an important component in closing that gap,” she said.
“When I see this population, it reminds me of my family. It’s important
for them to have that nursing support and to know what’s happening
with their loved one.”
CONHCP graduate Megan Easton did her residency in the ER at
Abrazo Scottsdale Campus in Phoenix, then started in May as an
extern in an even more dramatic place: the Level 1 Trauma Center at
Abrazo West Campus in Goodyear.
“If I didn’t have the TTP experience, it would have been a huge
shock because, although you get to experience a little through
rotations, it’s not the full effect of going a couple of times a week,
getting to know the staff and how it actually works,” said Easton, 27.
“This eased a lot of my anxieties as a new nurse. I still have some
because it’s a big job and there’s a lot on the line, but I’m more certain
about what needs to be done.”
In June, GCU senior Jordan Prudente started his residency at
Abrazo Arrowhead Campus in Glendale, where he is learning about
pre- and post-operative care and hopes to be assisting in the hospital’s
OR before completing his 109 hours and graduating.
The 20-year-old is becoming familiar with OR instruments,
facilities and medical staff, performing basic procedures and seeing
how effective nurses help patients who may be disoriented, fearful
or uncomfortable after surgery. Prudente has had to go outside his
comfort zone but knows that will build his confidence and boost his
employability.
“It’s a little scary to find your way into a team that’s been together
for a while,” he said. “But so far, I’ve met really great nurses who
explain a lot of things and are starting to know who I am and my name
when they see my purple scrubs.”
Expansion on the horizon
As of early August, 57 new CONHCP graduates had been hired as full-time
nurses through the Banner Health New Graduate Transition Program
and Abrazo Community Health Network. More employment offers are
forthcoming.
“As an employer, we’ve seen them in action and that’s huge,” said Karen
Josey, Banner’s director of simulation. “For the student, it’s about bridging
the gap between nursing school and practice.”
Students in the Banner program go through corporate and clinical
nursing orientations and electronic medical records training, then are
immersed in their specific work areas for several weeks. After being hired,
the nurses have 2-3 days of simulation training in which they “work out the
kinks” by repeatedly practicing their skills on a human patient simulator,
Josey said.
Students also learn whether they like the field of nursing they’ve chosen
as much as they thought they would, said Noelle Trinder, a Banner RN
Clinical Education Director.
“It might not be a fit for the unit or the student, and isn’t that valuable to
find out early on?” Trinder said. “It really helps with the retention piece.”
The continued growth of TTP is among Logue’s priorities.
“My residency helped me to apply my learning immediately, and then I
had a job right away,” she said. “The nurses nurtured me and helped grow
me as one of their own. It’s an amazing opportunity.”
Although Head’s knowledge, skills, experience and confidence have
bloomed in myriad ways since that dramatic winter morning eight months
ago, she still repeats the same prayer driving to work every day.
“I ask God to help me get through this, give me strength, give me
guidance to be a good nurse,” she said. “During my residency and
externship, there were times I felt, ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ But there
was always something that occurred or that I experienced that gave me that
assurance: ‘You can do it.’”
GCU nursing student Jordan Prudente
(left) is mentored by registered
nurse Patrick McConaughy, director
of surgical services at Abrazo
Arrowhead Campus in Glendale.
