Germanna nursing grads come through when it counts

            By PAT MONICAL

During a routine checkup our primary care physician asked my husband if he ever experienced shortness of breath.  He said no, only upon exertion, and it went away quickly.  He is physically active, is up and down stairs all day and never experiences pain or becomes winded.  He did say if he carried a box of copier paper up to the second floor he gets a little winded but it goes away immediately.  All blood work is good but he does take a statin for cholesterol.  Just to be safe the doctor ordered a stress test, EKG, and echocardiogram.

On June 26^th my husband went in for the tests at the Pratt medical center next to Mary Washington Hospital.  The EKG was fine.  The echocardiogram was fine.  The stress test showed a problem.  The technician came out and told us we would have to go to the hospital for evaluation.  She told us to wait, that she would be contacting the hospital, and would prepare papers and images for us to take with us.  When she came out she very firmly said, “Go to the hospital….NOW.” 

In the ER they looked at the images and scheduled a catheterization immediately.  The cath lab cardiologist came out and abruptly stated, “This is very bad.  Very bad.  We don’t know why he is still alive.”  He was sent to ICU and scheduled for a quadruple bypass first thing in the morning.   We went from a semi-routine test to crisis management in the matter of a few hours.  I was blown away and by myself in a hospital I’ve never been to before.  We moved here in 2010.  I still don’t know the names of the streets and I have no history of any medical facilities.  Now we were facing serious surgery.

This is where Germanna Community College’s nursing program comes in.  The people at Mary Washington hospital (from administrative staff, volunteers, housekeeping staff, food service, clerks, parking lot attendants, security to all medical personnel) were efficient, professional, KIND, helpful, eager to be of service, and basically acted as if they knew what they were doing and had done it before.   We were treated as if we had a brain, things were explained to us, and we were constantly asked if we had any questions.  We weren’t a number and we mattered.  That human touch and professionalism scored highly with me.  And you know what?  Most of the nurses we encountered were GCC grads. 

I work at Germanna and there were times before this that I’ve encountered some students who have made me wonder if they have what it takes to take care of others.  There were times they were too busy talking on their phone to notice a door held for them or to even hold a door for others and other similar events.  I’d wonder if they’d ever notice the needs of others.  What I found is that, somehow, the necessary skills and caring were imparted to them during the course of their training. 

The nursing staff was constantly on the go, yet their attention was to their patient and their family members.  They didn’t wait for someone to ask them for help.  They offered it without asking.  They anticipated the needs and acted as if it was a privilege to serve.  That made a difficult and stressful situation a whole lot easier to handle for the patient and family. My husband came home four days after his surgery.  His progress has been amazing and                     that’s a testament to the care he received.

Thanks to Dean Patti Lisk and the rest of the nursing department at GCC.  I could not be more appreciative or impressed and I no longer wonder if a student has what it takes.  If they are in Germanna’s program, they do.

For Germanna, Culpeper Regional Hospital partnership in preparing a new generation of nurses helps meet critical health care need

Germanna student Jillian Witkowski, right, works with, from left, Culpeper Regional Hospital Case Manager Deb Griffith and VP Janice Suter in this Star-Exponent photo.
By NATE DELESLINE III

The Culpeper Star-Exponent

Germanna Community College students are applying their emerging nursing skills hands-on at Culpeper Regional Hospital.

All of the students are part of the school’s two-year registered nurse program and will officially earn the title after passing a state exam after their two years of academic and clinical work.

In addition to lightening the load on the regular full-time staff, the new nurses will help to reverse a nationwide shortage of nurses.

“We’re very thankful to have students,” said Janice Suter, CRH’s vice president of nursing services.

Industry experts point to many factors that have contributed to the nursing shortage. One is an increase in the volume of health-care services delivered to an aging population of baby boomers. Add to that shift work, long working hours and pay that isn’t always equal to the responsibilities and stress of the job and analysts say that it’s difficult to recruit young people and keep experienced personnel in the industry.

But student Shanon Fleming said working toward being a registered nurse is the right path for her.

“I enjoy talking with the patients, I like the fast pace,” she said. And after working as a nursing assistant for more than a decade, Fleming said that she wanted to take the next step in her career and education.

For first-year students, who do clinical work four days each week, a typical day begins around 7 a.m. After arriving, students meet with instructors and find out which patients they’ll be responsible for that day. The students normally see a different patient each day, and their work varies depending on the needs of the patient.

The students work in the hospital’s medical-surgical unit, an intermediate area that is one step below intensive care. They assist with many aspects of patient care including monitoring and documenting vital signs, giving medications, changing IVs, helping patients get dressed and groom themselves and most often, providing a willing and sympathetic ear. Each student’s work is monitored by the school instructors and experienced nurses.

“A lot of people just want to talk,” said Jillian Witkowski, another first-year nursing student. “I’ve really enjoyed it,” she said. “I had no idea what to expect.” Although seeing someone different each day is difficult, she said it adds a unique challenge and appeal to the job.

Clinical work continues for two years, throughout the RN program. During their second year, students begin working six days each week and may care for several patients at once.

According to a 2005 report from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, the state will need more than 22,000 new nurses by 2020.

To augment the ranks, the Virginia Community College System challenged its 23 schools to produce 80 percent more nursing graduates. About 70 nursing students graduated from the program in 2007, twice the size of the 2005 graduating class, according to school statement.

“We celebrate this accomplishment,” Germanna President David A. Sam said, “but we could not have done this without the support of Culpeper Regional Hospital and other health care providers who work with us in public-private partnerships. In return for their support, we’re excited to be able to send nursing graduates to the hospitals in our communities, where there is such a critical need.”

FLEDGLING NURSE AIDE PROGRAM BEGINNING TO SOAR AT GERMANNA

“It’s a great way of testing the waters to see if nursing is for you,” Dr. Ortega said. She said the program’s potential for getting students started in nursing could help resolve the area’s shortage of nurses. She added that it’s easy for nurse aides to find jobs. Nurse aides do not just work in nursing home and hospital but in varied work environments that can involve working independently and setting their own hours...
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