Healthy Partnerships
CLINICAL ROTATIONS BLUR THE LINE BETWEEN SKILL-BUILDING AND JOBS On NCTC’s Gainesville campus, the Leo & Mabel Scott Health Science Center is a medically-themed hub of academic activity for the popular Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) as well as the Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) program and Associate of Applied Science degree programs in Surgical Technology, Radiology Technology, Fire Science and Paramedicine. After they complete their coursework, however, Health Sciences students in various specialties head off-campus for their all-important “clinical rotations” – gaining hands-on experience in medical settings and learning the ropes under the watchful eyes of skilled nurses and other medical professionals. Allied Health division chair Maame Darkwa says the medical facilities that become externship and clinical partners with NCTC offer Health Sciences students invaluable, real life experience in the field that goes far beyond what they can learn in in-class training simulation skills labs. NCTC has intentionally widened this web of opportunity by developing strong relationships with a slew of medical centers and facilities located throughout North Texas, allowing students to forge potential employment connections while building their clinical skills. “Just in the local area alone, our nursing students have opportunities to get clinical experience at about 12 different hospitals,” says Brandon Hernandez, NCTC’s Dean of Health Sciences. He points to North Texas Medical Center in Gainesville as “a real direct pipeline right here in our backyard,” but says the opportunities are diverse and relatively far-reaching.
For instance, Mercy Hospital in Ardmore, Oklahoma is fairly near to the Gainesville campus and remains a strong resource for the nursing program and nursing students. Angela Daniels, a recruiter with the hospital’s Human Resources department, says NCTC is one of a handful of nursing schools the hospital partners with, and students come for rotations and, sometimes, part-time jobs at Mercy. She also recruits about 10 students in their final year of studies for a nine-week summer externship.
“They basically become employees for that time period and really develop their clinical skills,” she explains. Carolyn Michelle Hess, a 2018 graduate of NCTC’s ADN-RN program who is in the final months of completing her bachelor’s degree in nursing, exemplifies how these type of community relationships benefit students. In 2014, right after high school, she enrolled in the college’s 12-week CNA (Certified Nurse Aide) program, and says it quickly led to a CNA job at a Denton location of Good Samaritan Society, a retirement home. “That’s where we did our clinicals – every Saturday for three months,” she says. “It seemed like a good way to learn about this field and see if I wanted to pursue nursing as a profession.” A year and a half later, Hess moved to a CNA post with North Texas Medical Center’s medical surgery department and enrolled in NCTC’s ADN-RN program. She earned her associate degree – honored along the way with a Florence Nightingale Award from her classmates – and continued working as a certified nurse aide until after she passed her boards. Subsequently, she transitioned to a full-time nursing position in the same department and enrolled in Texas Woman’s University BSN program, with plans to graduate this May. “All my TWU classes are online, so it’s really convenient,” Hess explains. “I work three 12-hour shifts a week, and do my coursework on my days off.” Similarly, NCTC alumna Erin Sheriff credits her Health Sciences training for
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her job as a medical assistant I with Baylor Scott & White Denton Heart Group. Like Hess, Sheriff’s career got its start with her enrollment in the CNA program, then she followed that up with additional NCTC studies, earning her Clinical Medical Assistant certification followed by Phlebotomy Technician and EKG/Telemetry and Electrocardiogram. “I had been a preschool teacher, but was interested in healthcare, so I did my CNA training, started working, and then went back for more,” she explains. “When I started school, I was interested in pediatrics, but the EKG certification changed me and I fell in love with the heart. It’s just fascinating how the heart works.” Finishing her NCTC studies in 2018, Sheriff took her job with the Denton Heart Group soon after, and last year, had a giving-back idea regarding the possibility of externships her employer might offer to other NCTC students. She talked with her boss, they visited with Darkwa in the Allied Health division, and one thing led to another. Now, NCTC has an agreement in place where the Denton Heart Group and several nearby Baylor primary care physicians offer externships to three top CMA students each semester – and Darkwa says the arrangement has led to full-time employment for one of each of the student groups sent. “Nothing compares to the real life/real world exposure and training students receive during their externships and clinical rotations,” Darkwa concludes. “And, our partners also use this time as an extended interview for our students – and the ones who prove themselves and go above and beyond end up with employment.”
