Nursing students from the University of Nebraska Medical Center College
of Nursing Kearney Division, with the help of Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital
and Good Samaritan Health Systems, are getting six to eight weeks of valuable
nursing experience this summer. Fourteen senior nursing students are participating
in the Senior Clinical Nursing Externship program which gives the students
an opportunity to apply nursing theories and skills, as well as learn to
make appropriate decisions in a hospital setting.
Mary Lanning and Good Samaritan provide pay for the nursing students,
tuition reimbursement for their externship, pay for the UNMC faculty who
supervise the students, as well as pay for the staff member assigned to
the student.
Judy Billings, Ph.D., associate dean of the UNMC College of Nursing
Kearney Division, said the experiences are important in learning to become
a professional nurse.
The externship is a very valuable experience for students as it provides
them with more clinical experiences, Dr. Billings said. It improves their
critical thinking skills and clinical judgment, as well as increasing their
confidence with patients and their families. We are pleased to be able
to work with agencies in the area to provide this opportunity.
Part of the experience requires students to think through scenarios
and make decisions based on patient data and symptoms. The students provide
faculty information on what steps should be taken and why. The externship
also helps the students organizational skills and helps them decide which
area of nursing they may want to work.
Its a great learning experience, said Del Miller, a senior UNMC nursing
student from Hastings. I have a wonderful preceptor and the staff looks
out for me. Ive had the opportunity to do a lot of things we have talked
about in class but doing them is a totally different thing.
The externships also benefit the hospitals.
The kind of relationship between student and preceptor is mentally-stimulating
to the staff, said Leota Rolls, vice president of Mary Lanning Memorial
Hospital. It also is a recruitment tool for us as it gives us an opportunity
to see the student in a practice setting. If the student joins our facility,
it gives them a head start in orientation.
Good Samaritan Health Systems Vice President of Nursing, Carol Wahl,
said the program brings together nursing education and experience that
benefits UNMC and Good Samaritan.
Given the national projected continuing demand for compassionate, skilled
nurses, this program is an innovative way to develop strong relationships
between education and service and experienced and novice practitioners,
Wahl said.
Students who participated in the externship program and their hometowns
are:
GOOD SAMARITAN HEALTH SYSTEMS, Kearney
ALEXANDRIA — Lecia Seitz
ALLEN — Abbey Schroeder
FRIEND — Jennifer McKeeman
GIBBON — Nicole Oliver
KEARNEY — Allison Eye, Amy Rader and Amy Townsend
KIMBALL — Brenda Culek
PLEASANTON — Katherine Geisler
ST. PAUL — Theresa Bahensky
MARY LANNING MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, Hastings
HASTINGS Delbert Miller and Karen Scalf Benham
LINCOLN Dawn Ellingson
SANBORN, IOWA Jamie Getting
The UNMC College of Nursing is the largest nursing school in the state
with a total of more than 700 students at its Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney and
Scottsbluff campuses. It is the only nursing school in the state to offer
undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education and patient care, UNMC has
established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for cancer research
and treatment and solid organ transplantation. More than $34 million in
research grants and contracts are awarded to UNMC scientists annually.
In addition, UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more
health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.