Video: A CWRU first-year nurse’s first 3 months providing real care

first-year nursing student Esther Koo

As the first semester wraps up, Case Western Reserve University’s first-year nursing students already have 13 weeks of clinical experience completed. That’s more than 3 months already working with real patients. In real health care settings. Providing real care.

I recently talked with first-year nursing student Esther Koo about her first months at CWRU’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and was amazed by the important work she and other first-year nurses are already completing.

Watch the video to hear Esther's take on her nursing education so far

In her first clinical placement, at University Hospitals, right in the center of our campus, Esther is Basic Life Support (BLS) certified in CPR. She takes full vitals, operates and reads hospital charts, applies oxygen assistance devices, gives full bed baths, takes input and output measurements (I&O's as she calls it) and more.

This is the experience she wanted when she was considering nursing schools, she says: Hands-on nursing opportunities, plus stellar prospects for future health care expertise.

“I was definitely attracted to the fact we'll get hands-on experience in our first year, as well as CWRU's public health certification program,” she says. “With a pandemic going on, I think medical professionals being educated in public health is more important now than ever.”

Early experience ➡️ Improved outcomes (for your and your patients) ➡️ A healthier world 🌎