A summer spent in the Mayo Clinic’s cardiac operating room helped Cami Roehrs prepare for a career in nursing. 这也让她准备好庆祝生活中的小事.
这位来自内布拉斯加州汉普顿的高级护理专业学生., already had a good collection of nursing experiences: a clinical at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, 布莱恩医疗中心的精神科诊所, and work experiences on the orthopedic and neurology floors at CHI 健康 St. 伊丽莎白.
A 10-week nursing externship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.现在，她的简历上又增加了这一项.
Roehrs’s interest in the Mayo Clinic externship came via a recommendation from recent NWU graduate Katie Noble, a registered nurse in the cardiac surgical progressive care unit at the Mayo Clinic.
“她认为我会是一个很好的候选人，”罗尔回忆说. “我原以为机会渺茫，但心血来潮决定申请.”
Over 1,000 applicants across the country applied; only 53 were selected. 罗尔斯是唯一被内布拉斯加州录取的学生.
“我记得我当时在想，有没有可能他们发错了卡米?她问.
Roehrs credits her academic rigor and support at Nebraska Wesleyan, pointing to help from the 职业中心 and her academic advisor along with her leadership experiences with NWU’s Student Nurses Association and the Nebraska State Student Nurses Association.
Especially important to Roehrs was the opportunity to gain experience at a hospital with impressive recognition: “Best Hospital in the Nation” for three consecutive years and “Most Attractive Employer” for 13 consecutive years.”
“Mayo’s pride in where they work and in what they do is a common trait among all employees,”她说。. “The values remain true to the vision of the founders – the needs of the patient come first.
“在梅奥，我不只是一个学生实习生，”她继续说道. “我沉浸在团队合作的文化中, 专业, 相互尊重, 最重要的是, 改变人生的经历.”
Roehrs arrived at Mayo Clinic where she worked alongside a circulating nurse in the cardiac operating room. 她在手术前对病人进行评估, served as a patient advocate and monitored patients’ safety to ensure no aspect of care was missed during surgery. Roehrs记录了供应和程序, 协助进行血流动力学监测, 并与咨询外科医生进行了沟通, 研究员, 居民, 麻醉团队, 外科技师, 手术助理. She also had the opportunity to scrub in on cardiac cases where she worked directly with the surgeon and 外科技师.
“Being in the cardiac OR exposed me to a specialty of nursing that most nurses have not explored, 我的经历是首屈一指的,”她说。. “I had the opportunity to assist in rare cases and innovative techniques I may never see again in my career.”
罗尔的经历并没有在心脏手术翼结束. The program gave all externs opportunities to work and observe in other units of interest. Roehrs observed in the neonatal intensive care unit which included floor experience and two cesarean sections; pediatric cardiac surgical intensive care unit, 创伤加护病房, 神经科重症监护病房, 普通外科, 还有一个普通护理楼层.
没有这个机会, Roehrs said she might have missed out on a powerful life lesson: the little things are also big things.
她在心脏手术室的时候, Roehrs assisted in a heart transplant supplied by a donor through LifeSource, an organ donation organization that helps families with the organ donation process. The donor’s family wrote a letter to the operating team about their loved one’s life.
“当我们准备把新心脏带给接受者时, the entire surgical team initiated a pause while the nurse read the family’s note about the donor,罗尔回忆道. 护士读到捐赠者有一双最漂亮的棕色眼睛, 喜欢户外活动, 并希望这个人拥有自己的心. This moment was incredibly powerful — everyone took a step back from this medical miracle to share a moment of silence for the donor and the donor’s family. 小事情是最有影响力的.”
The experience also taught Roehrs to seek out a work environment that lives up to its mission and values.
“I hope to incorporate Mayo’s mission and values – the needs of the patient come first — into every patient encounter and setting I work in and to empower those around me and leave a legacy behind for others.”
Roehrs will graduate in May and will apply for jobs in an intensive care unit. She will also apply to graduate school to pursue a doctorate in nursing anesthesia to practice as a certified nurse anesthetist.
“The program was everything I hoped it would be and I am convinced I have been prepared for an exceptional nursing career,”她说。. “无论我被召唤去哪里服务, I will always be a Mayo-trained nurse and people will notice there is something different about me – something that sets me apart from the rest.”
——丹尼尔·安德森的故事，公关实习生.