Elmira College nursing students to graduate amid nurse shortage
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – Elmira College is getting ready for its commencement ceremony this Sunday. Nursing School graduates will soon be entering hospitals struggling to fill a nationwide nursing shortage.
18 News got an inside look at how the nursing school’s “simulation center” is preparing students for the real deal. Students are able to practice their skills on 15 realistic mannequins. Some are more advanced than others and can talk and move. Their actions are controlled by a teacher behind a one-way mirror to provide students with different scenarios, like delivering a baby or treating a sick child.
“It’s definitely very awkward at first,” said senior Sydney Fendick. “You walk into a room, and you are kind of trying to pretend that the mannequin is real person. Sometimes they don’t respond to you the way that you expect. But overall, I think it’s a very good experience because when we go into patients’ rooms in the hospital, they may not always respond the way we expect. So, it’s nice having that experience in our back pocket that we can pull back from and just have a better understanding of our patients,” Fendick added.
“Although it’s a mannequin, these are patients,” said senior Shermalie Bigot. “We have skills such as inserting IV, IG tubes, how to interact with patients. This is where we practice before going out in the field.”
20 nursing students are set to graduate on Sunday. They’re also studying for their final board exams before officially becoming registered nurses. Recent graduates of Elmira College are finding jobs quickly. More than 90% of the class of 2022 is working with an average annual salary of more than $70,000. Due to the high demand for nurses, the school says they are often able to negotiate even higher starting salaries.
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“How would you describe the need for nursing today?” we asked Dr. Milissa Volino, the Director of Nurse Education at Elmira College.
“I think there is a huge need for nurses since the COVID pandemic,” Volino said. “Locally we’ve experienced a shift where people are taking jobs traveling, relocating. Locally we have a pretty big version of this shortage and we’re working hard to keep our nurses here. “We do have students who come from other parts of the country that are going to go back home but generally at least a third of our class stays local every year.”
Senior Donnabel Schroeder told us she came to study at Elmira College from the Philippines.
“I had the best experience at Elmira College. As someone from another country, I can share to other students to enroll here. The professors and the programs are the best. I’m going to be working at Robert Packer Hospital.”
We asked senior Tori Dupont how she feels about stepping into her field at a time when new nurses are in high demand.
“Obviously we’re stepping into a shortage, but we’re also new grads, we’re babies,” Dupont said. We haven’t learned that time-management you have when you see the senior nurses. You don’t have the confidence levels that are needed, but it comes with time.”
“It does come with time,” Schroeder agreed. “Maybe a year or two, we’re going to be a little faster when it comes to our time management and giving medications to patients. But yeah, wish us luck.”
Senior Hailey Clancy told us she already landed a job at the Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester. I asked her what attracted her to nursing.
“I have a history of epilepsy,” Clancy said. “I was hospitalized when I was in 5th grade. Seeing all the nurses help me and being there for my family, I wanted to be able to give that to others as well.”
Senior Shermalie Bigot told us she became interested in nursing as way to care of her family.
“I’m an only child,” Bigot said. “I want to make sure I have the best knowledge for my parents for the future, because I know they’re going to get older, and for my family. I’m everyone’s nurse essentially.”
Sydney Fendick told us she also has a job lined up as she continues studying for the NCLEX board exam, which stands for National Council Licensure Examination.
“It’s very rewarding to walk into a patient’s room, and even if you just make them smile, I think it helps them in more ways than one.”
You can watch the full interviews with the nursing students below:
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