A win-win-win – for student nurses, a hospital and a college

Michelle Wollock, a patient care assistant at L+M Hospital, expects to graduate with a nursing degree from CT State Community College, Three Rivers, this December. She also anticipates being hired to work in L+M’s Operating Room as a new nurse graduate as early as January.

Wollock’s career is on a successful track in part because of her participation in an eight-week student nurse intern program in the OR.

Wollock, along with student nurse interns Tara Billups and Macy Flores, spent their summer days in the OR trenches, getting paid to learn and help with cases, all under the guidance of experienced OR nurse preceptors.

“This really opened my eyes and made me realize the OR is where I want to be,” Wollock said. “This program has been an amazing opportunity for all of us.”

L+M’s OR internship program was a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic, but its revival this summer is integral to recruiting and retaining nurses – local nurses who love both the area and the unique demands of OR life. All nurse graduates receive further on-the-job training once hired.

“The vacancy rate for OR nurses is a challenge for hospitals everywhere, so recruiting nurses who live in our community is a great opportunity,” said Shannon Christian, RN, chief nursing officer, L+M and Westerly hospitals.

“We’re building a pipeline of talent for the future,” said Lynne Killoy, RN, L+M director of Perioperative Services. “A typical nursing student might only get a day to shadow an OR nurse, but these students are truly hands on, which means they can really decide if they like it.”

Dawn Hydes, RN, a perioperative clinical nurse specialist, has been running the program and supervising the nursing students. “We were fortunate to have three very strong students from Three Rivers,” Hydes said. “They’ve been amazing.”

Each day, the student nurses saw, heard and breathed the intense atmosphere inside operating rooms. Interns are limited in what they are allowed to do, but they pitched in as much as possible, learning the complex teamwork and attention to detail that makes OR nurses invaluable to surgeons, anesthesiologists and surgical technologists. They learned, for example, that you don’t sit back and watch a case. Rather, you anticipate surgeons’ needs in advance, always being ready for the next step in a procedure.

The interns said they also realized how valuable they are to each patient. “You are advocating for them and keeping them safe,” said Flores, who also expects to apply for a job in the L+M OR after graduation (she’s in her third semester). “I love being that last person the patient sees before they go under (anesthesia).”

Billups said she is grateful to have been selected for the program, which piqued her interest in becoming a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). Billups said she wants to broaden her hospital experience, so she may apply to work on a medical-surgical or intensive care unit after graduation. If she does become a CRNA, she’ll return to the OR.

The internship program can reinforce a nurse’s OR goal or help them choose an area more suited to their long-term career plans. Either way, the hospital is securing future talent in a time of nursing shortages, and the college benefits by enhancing students’ opportunities.

“I’ve already told my classmates how much I love it,” Flores said. “I always knew I wanted to be an OR nurse, but this program just solidified everything.”