Beyond clinical: my UC nursing co-op and DEU experience
During my junior year, my advisor and Dr. Debbie Schwytzer, the co-op program director, encouraged me to apply for the program. I got an offer from the NICU at Cincinnati Children's, which I gladly accepted since I know I want to work with pediatrics and critical care. In a nutshell, this is a paid program where you are paired with a registered nurse to work three 12-hour shifts a week during the summer before your senior year, then between 32-26 hours a month through the school year and back to the full-time schedule during the winter break.
During the co-op experience, you can do everything with the assigned nurse preceptor. This includes hand-off reports for patients, medication administration, nursing bedside procedures, education with family regarding the plan of care, etc. One of my favorite opportunities the program offers is shadowing various units. I had the privilege of shadowing a nurse at the CICU, PICU, neuro unit and operating room.
Although I am not graduating until the spring of 2023, I know I want to work at Cincinnati Children's in a critical care setting. Participating in the co-op program helps students make connections with managers and educators, which leads to high chances of being offered a job. When people ask me if I am worried about working as a registered nurse after graduation, I let them know how excited I am to begin this next journey. The DEU and co-op experiences have helped me have a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of nurses. I am excited to do it on my own after graduation!
Latest UC News
- Julie Leftwich appointed Director of International Peace and Security InitiativesJulie Leftwich appointed Director of International Peace and Security Initiatives at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
- WLWT: Tips to fight off bad allergy symptomsThe University of Cincinnati's Ahmad Sedaghat spoke with WLWT about how Cincinnati's geography tends to make allergy symptoms worse and tips to fight off those symptoms.
- Lindner students recognized for academic excellence, achievements in co-opThe Carl H. Lindner College of Business held its annual student awards ceremony on April 10, celebrating the accomplishments of its students at every level.
- UC’s Ground Floor Makerspace births combat robotsIn the heart of UC's 1819 Innovation Hub lies the Ground Floor Makerspace, an advanced and active hub of ingenuity where students, faculty and the community converge to bring their ideas to life. This includes being the birthplace of robots much like miniature race cars, combating fender to fender in an enclosed boxing ring. Combat robots like UC's Maximizer will again be fighting for first place in the National Havoc Robot League (NHRL) competition, slated for April 20.
- ServiceNow Vancouver upgrade coming Friday, April. 26The IT Service Portal and Knowledge Base may be intermittently unavailable from 11:45p.m., Friday, April 26, until 4 a.m., Saturday, April 27, during a planned ServiceNow upgrade.
- Medscape: Skin adverse events rare after immunotherapy to treat skin cancersMedscape highlighted University of Cincinnati research published in JAMA Dermatology that found skin adverse events were rare following immunotherapy treatments for certain skin cancers.