By Liz Ciocher
Staff Writer
In their studies, nursing students are required to face hands-on experiences through clinicals in various hospitals with real-life patients. For the past two years, students at the College have received some of the best clinical experiences at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
“CHOP and Boston’s children hospital are tied for the number one top children's hospitals in the US,” said the College’s Nursing Department Chair Dr. Tracy Perron. “The experiences, cases, types of kids they see, many cases have very rare conditions that they would not otherwise see.”
This year, all junior nursing students at the College have the opportunity to visit and learn from CHOP. Since it is such a well-known hospital, the students and nurses are exposed to various kinds of patients.
“It was a great experience,” said junior nursing student Keigan Craig. “I saw a lot there, more than I’ve seen anywhere else because it's a hospital that people come to from all over the county. There’s more serious patients there than at the other hospitals I’ve been to.”
Not only are the nursing students benefiting from the experiences, they are exposed to through their patients, but also through the hospital itself. CHOP also holds a “teaching hospital” title.
“There is no comparison to a teaching hospital compared to a community hospital,” Dr. Perron said. “CHOP is a teaching hospital. The atmosphere is more conducive to students than most community hospitals that aren’t teaching hospitals, giving our kids more to learn.”
This way, the students are more exposed to the technicalities of how a hospital is run.
“CHOP has their own department that handles the contracts of the students who come to the hospital,” said nursing professor Marc Stetson. “It is a lengthy process because they give students full access to the entire computer system, which is a class all in itself, and they have their own coordinators designated to handle the education side.”
Combined together, the learning environment and different patients provide the students with a lot of material and exposure that really advance their education.
“I would look at their [CHOP patient’s] charts and stuff, and I was like, ‘Oh wow, I'd never seen these things before,’ since I saw a lot of things I never expected to see in person,” Craig said. “It helped a lot with my lecture material because after seeing it, my notes were so much easier to understand.”
According to Stetson, this exposure is what makes the hospital so great for nursing students.
“It’s crazy how many people are there,” he said. “The building is filled with patients, which is so much that a student could be exposed to.”
He has also noted that, after conducting their studies at CHOP, he’s seen improvement in his students in the classroom.
How did the College get here? Previous graduates from the College have paved the way for an excellent reputation for the nursing school, with some of CHOP’s nurses being College alumni.
“They have a lot of TCNJ grads that actually work there, so knowing the kinds of students we produce helps,” Dr. Perron explained. “Some of our professors now have also worked there.”
When asked about any negative experiences while working with CHOP, no one had any complaints.
“It’s one of the best parts in our program,” Dr. Perron said.
Stetson agrees, saying, “the students are really being exposed to a vast amount of surgeries, diagnosis. You hear about diagnoses that are one in a million, and you’re going to find it at CHOP.”
