The summer semester students enrolled in Adult Health from Duquesne University would like to recognize 3W. The students expressed this was the best clinical experience they have had at any hospital facility or on any unit they have previously been on. The students also expressed how welcoming and approachable the nursing staff was to them. Each day in post-conference they would tell stories from their clinical day with so much excitement and gratitude. Frequently, I would hear "Seriously, I think I had the best nurse on the planet." or "I hope I can think and act like them someday when I am a nurse." This unit made these students feel like REAL nurses and not students who are in the way or a nuisance, which is what they have felt like on previous units and at previous facilities. I would personally like to thank these 11 nurses who have worked with the students almost every clinical day they have been here.
By the 3W nurses simply allowing the student to follow them around, or asking them if they would like to watch something, or including them in rounds means the absolute world to them. This experience has made them look at big picture patient care and not just task-oriented care. These students think these nurses are absolute rock stars and have all said at some point this semester "That's the kind of nurse I want to be" and I could not agree more!
I would also like to thank and express my sincere gratitude to Tracey. I have worked and taught clinical on many units and at different facilities and the respect and admiration the staff has for her is astonishing. While on clinical units I am sometimes a fly on the wall and hear the day-to-day grind and grumbles of the units. I can honestly say I have never heard a single complaint or cross word or thought about her or her management style. She is on the unit, visible, talking with patients, and supporting staff each day we are here. I have no doubt that the students had such a great experience and encountered welcoming and supportive nurses because of her leadership.