Health Careers Students Spend Summer as RI Hospital CNAs
For ten years, Davies has worked in partnership with Lifespan to recruit and train future personnel. This year, thirteen students and graduates from our Health Careers program have entered the eight-week long Seacole Scholars program to work at Rhode Island Hospital as Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs).
The program, run by the nursing department at Rhode Island Hospital, is part of the Lifespan Summer Youth Program. Participating students spend four days a week on nursing units and one day per week attending Lifespan Youth Development Training. According to Carol Gouveia, Clinical Nurse Manager at Rhode Island Hospital, more than half of Davies’ Seacole Scholars from prior years are still employed at Lifespan today. For students interested in medical school, hours gained during the Seacole Scholars program can count towards clinical hours in college.
Scholars are assigned to units specializing in patient care ranging from pre and post surgery to stroke units to burns and trauma to hematology and oncology. Some students directly support nurses while others are given patients of their own to care for. 2016 graduate and current Scholar, Gina Miranda, who cares for five patients of her own, explained the staff at Lifespan takes time to make the participants in the program feel comfortable. "Nurses help you a lot because you're a student. They don't expect me to know everything, but they do have expecations and they help you learn to step up."
Wilza Almada, a senior at Davies who works on RI Hospital's Bridge 6, dedicated mostly to spinal, echoed Miranda's sentiments. "My whole staff is like a family," she said.
Student responsibilities range from taking blood sugars and vitals to assisting with feeding and other basic care. For some, it allows an opportunity to practice skills they were first exposed to at Davies. "I just did my first EKG by myself today," 2016 graduate Samira Dias said. She noted the Seacole Scholars program also offers critical exposure to an environment that can only be learned first-hand in the hospital. "I'm getting used to seeing different things that before would have made me cringe."
For other students, this has meant exposure to learning the different roles health care workers play in working with deceased patients. "I did post-mortem care for the first time," senior Breauna Day said, explaining CNA responsibilities include bathing and tying tags to the body, and ultimately zipping the body bag.
Education Partnership Coordinator, Karen Murphy, urged students to continue stepping out of their comfort zones as they continued the Seacole Scholars program and to learn as much as they can from the experience. "If there's a procedure you can't do, always ask to observe."
The 2016 Seacole Scholars are:
- Wilza Almada
- Hana Barata
- Haley Chicoine
- Breauna Day
- Alexandra Depina
- Samira Dias
- Elizabeth Foster
- Megan Lipponen
- Sabrina McFarland
- Gina Miranda
- Jasmine Monteiro
- Elvis Morales
- Giovanna Perez