Summer program opens eyes – and doors – to nursing careers

It’s back-to-school time, when many kids are thinking about their friends, classes, school activities and whatever else the coming year might bring.

Students like Karla Zhumi will be thinking further ahead, thanks to a Yale New Haven Hospital-Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) program that gives high school students with diverse backgrounds opportunities to explore and prepare for nursing careers.

“I have family members who are nurses,” said Zhumi, a junior at Eli Whitney Technical High School in Hamden. “I always wanted to follow in their footsteps and take care of people.”

In July, she joined 34 area sophomores and juniors for the fourth annual Summer Nursing Symposium. YNHH nursing professional development specialists and clinical nurses partnered with SCSU and hospital leaders to develop the program.

“Our ultimate goal is to increase the number of underrepresented minority students in nursing, provide mentorship and promote diversity, equity and inclusion to reduce healthcare disparities,” said Sandra Anyoha, RN, DNP, patient services manager, YNHH Pediatric Neurosciences and Medical Specialty. She leads the YNHH portion of the program with Darin Bershefsky, RN, nursing professional development specialist, Children’s Specialty Centers.

The two-week program includes a week on the SCSU campus and a week at YNHH. The SCSU week includes classes, simulation, hands-on training in CPR, emergency first aid and other clinical skills and information on breaking down barriers to college. During their second week students spend two days at YNHH shadowing nurses and patient care associates. More than 25 units participated, including Medical-Surgical, Critical Care, Women’s, Emergency, Peri-Op, Pediatric, Ambulatory and other areas. With patients’ permission, students observed nursing care firsthand.

Mariah Mantilla, a sophomore at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven, spent a morning shadowing Jane Cruz, RN, in the Heart and Vascular Center Cardiovascular ICU (SP 5-4).

“There’s a lot of back and forth, from the medication room to the supplies room to the patients’ rooms,” Mantilla observed.

“It’s a hard job, but it can be very rewarding,” Cruz told her. “You have many patients and families who are grateful for your care.”

Students must apply to SCSU for the symposium, which is free thanks to a partnership between Yale New Haven Health and SCSU’s College of Health & Human Services, School of Nursing, and university programming. The Platt Family Foundation also supports the program.

The symposium is already meeting its goal to encourage and help students who have traditionally been underrepresented in the nursing field. A number of previous symposium attendees have enrolled in or plan to apply to nursing school.

“This symposium is an investment,” Bershefsky said. “It not only addresses immediate workforce needs, it helps build a more equitable and inclusive future for healthcare delivery.”