“Initially, I wanted to be a physician and go to medical school, but then I realized who’s really working with patients. It’s the nurses who are always at the bedside,” says Martin, a senior in the University of Cincinnati’s College of Nursing BSN program.

“They are the ones talking with patients. Yes, you see the doctors in the morning on rounds and that’s pretty much the only time,” says Martin. “I wanted to be the one communicating with the patients more often.”

Martin is in the midst of a yearlong paid co-op experience in UC Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit Float Pool. She started during the summer prior to her senior year initially working full time, before scaling back to part time during the year in order to balance real-world encounters with time in the classroom. 

“I chose UC because of co-op. I like the hands-on learning experiences, like the dedicated education unit clinicals, which is like a one-on-one clinical experience where you interact with patients and preceptors to provide patient care.”

In her co-op, Martin is paired with her preceptor, a registered nurse, who helps her with clinical skills: inserting IVs and catheters, changing sterile dressings and providing tracheostomy care for patients.

“I get to do a bunch of different things we wouldn’t get to on a normal clinical experience because we’re learning one-on-one with a preceptor,” says Martin. “The patients are really kind. I’ve never had a patient say, ‘No, I don’t want a student.’ They are more interested in learning what I am doing.

“I’m doing what a registered nurse would do, but she’s there watching and coaching and giving me feedback throughout the day, so I can be a better nurse when the time comes for me to actually enter the profession.”

The intensive care unit allowed Martin to see patients with different diagnoses.

“Because it’s comprehensive and offers care for different body systems — there are respiratory patients, heart patients, patients with liver failure and kidney disease — I feel like I’ve provided more holistic care for patients,” says Martin. “It’s not just one body system that we are taking care of in the ICU.”

Co-op at UC

UC founded cooperative education in 1906 and is consistently ranked among the top five best co-op programs nationally. Students know that UC offers co-op opportunities for real-world experiences at companies, government agencies and nonprofit organizations. But for the past two decades these co-op experiences have also been available to nursing students at Cincinnati area hospitals. The co-ops for nursing students differ from most co-ops on campus because they are yearlong experiences offering a mix of full-time work during the summer with a mix of part-time work with classes during the academic school year.

Deborah Schwytzer, associate professor and director of the co-op program in the UC College of Nursing, says co-ops in the college start the summer after the junior year and are initially full time with a professional nurse serving as a preceptor at either UC Health or Cincinnati Children’s.

During the school year, part-time work experience for a co-op can be balanced to accommodate a student’s course load. Students during winter break again have full-time hours as part of their co-op experience before returning to a mix of work and school for their final semester.

“We don’t want their academic experience to suffer so we balance that with students getting more hands-on experience,” says Schwytzer.

The College of Nursing will place 95 students this year in co-op allowing each student to earn from 500 to 700 hours of clinical experience. It means students upon graduation often enter a job and require fewer hours of clinical orientation because of their co-op experience, says Schwytzer.

“It helps them get a foot in the door and the hospitals have the help they need to provide patient care,” explains Schwytzer. “For a lot of students co-op is the reason they come to the University of Cincinnati.”

Students are provided numerous opportunities to explore various nursing positions and are assisted in finding “their niche,” explains Schwytzer. Similarly, the hospital has the opportunity to determine as to whether or not the student has potential for success in a given position. This places them in a better position to recruit the more experienced students than their competitors, she adds.

Student Martin says the co-op experience also helps nursing students determine the career path that will work for them in the future. She says a couple of shadowing shifts during her co-op allowed her to experience nursing in different clinical units.

“I did a shadowing shift in the labor and delivery unit because I wanted to know more about OB/GYN,” explains Martin. “It was a really great experience. There’s a whole lot of learning curves that we aren’t getting in lectures that you are able to experience with co-op.”

Nursing students finish co-op and must receive their RN licensure before being hired full time by a hospital, explains Schwytzer. Martin says she already has a job offer from UC Medical Center.

Martin, a native of Downers Grove, Illinois, says that while co-op is a strong draw there are other attractions at UC. Campus life provides a home away from home. Martin initially lived on campus in Daniels Hall and later in Stratford Heights, before living in her sorority house and then into a nearby apartment community. 

“I always felt like the dorm environment was a great way to meet people,” says Martin, who started an intramural volleyball team while in the residence hall and later also for her sorority. 

She’s a member of Kappa Delta – Omega Xi, has held several leadership positions with the sorority and is currently its director of scholarship, a role designed to help members stay on track academically. Martin has served on the UC Greek Engagement Board as the director of Future Greek Leaders Retreat.

“Being in Greek life and nursing has made the university feel like a home because I always see someone I know everywhere I go,” says Martin.

Martin helped develop a student shadowing experience for high school students interested in attending the College of Nursing. High school juniors or seniors can spend a day with a nursing college student, enjoy lunch, visit classes and sample other areas of college life.

“I enjoy serving as a College of Nursing student ambassador because I want to show prospective students the amazing things UC has to offer, whether it is having fun on gameday, getting involved in student organizations, volunteering, or professional development opportunities,” says Martin. 

Campus life offers a mix of new buildings and old ones and allows students to sample city life if they wish, says Martin.

“Coming from a big city, I did not want to go to a smaller school,” explains Martin. “I loved UC's proximity to downtown and convenient access to multiple highways and things to do. There's always something going on at the campus too, so there is no need to leave, but you have that option.”

“One of my favorite on-campus events is movie night at Nippert Stadium,” says Martin. “Students can watch a movie on the big screen and sit on the field to enjoy. UC is unique because the football fall field is open to students when athletes aren’t practicing. It’s a great place during warmer weather for students to play spikeball, soccer or simply enjoy.”