"She said, 'I'm nervous. I've only done this on mannequins,'" Alsup recalls. "And I said, 'Get over it. We are going, and you know how to do it. When you get tired, tell me, and I'll take over. We will switch back and forth.' So we did, and the person lived."

It isn't uncommon for nursing co-ops to help save lives, says Alsup, who heads up UC's unique program in which students spend the summer before their senior year working full time at University Hospital. The program started in 2003 with nine of UC's top students, then leapt to 14 in '04 and now has 20 participating. Co-ops are paired with a preceptor, and Alsup insists her students are given hands-on experience doing actual nursing duties.

"I have them do everything an RN does," Alsup says. "I hold nothing back. They are seeing and learning in a
level-one trauma center.

"They see the worst. If you listen to the news, that's the place where the action is. They are getting the real world. I get so much gratification from where I see these students come in and where I see them end up. The outcome is incredible. They actually radiate."

By the end of the summer, students often have a chance to experience multiple hospital units, from intensive care to surgery to the emergency room, which helps them focus their career. After their summer co-op, students return to the hospital to work around their school schedule.

"I am incredibly grateful for the realness of the program," says nursing student Ye Yin Yi. "I had a picturesque idea of how working on a floor would be. But the program jolts you out of that fantasy and hits you with reality."

For students, the hospital co-op boosts their self-assurance.

"My confidence, clinical skills, critical thinking and communication skills have improved so much from participating in the co-op program," says Carly Cooper. "I feel like I'm finally taking all that knowledge I've gained in the classroom and putting the pieces together."

Link:

College of Nursing co-op program