SONHS Holds Breakfast and Brag Event
Saint Xavier University (SXU) recently held "Breakfast and Brag," an event for SXU nursing students to meet with recruiters from various hospitals and discuss their nursing practicum experiences.
Charlene Bermele, DNP, RN, CNE, interim dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences (SONHS), opened the event with a prayer and welcome, followed by a discussion about the challenges facing nursing today, including staffing, retention, engagement, and finding and educating competent nurses. The group also discussed the future of nursing and opportunities for SXU students.
Nearly 100 SXU nursing students came to hear about job offerings from clinical partners. Thirteen clinical partner locations were in attendance: Advocate Aurora Health; Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago; Chicago Public Schools; Edward-Elmhurst Health; Humboldt Park Health; Loyola Medicine; Mercy Circle; Northwestern Medicine; OSF HealthCare; Little Company of Mary Medical Center; Palos/Northwestern Home Care and Hospice; Silver Cross Hospital; Sinai Health System; and UChicago Medicine.
"I appreciated the variety of employers and nursing jobs from areas I had not previously considered. I enjoyed meeting with different recruiters and learning about many options for this career. I applied for four positions and received two formal job offers. I accepted one of them, which will allow me to achieve my dream job post-graduation," said nursing student Lisa LasCola.
Jean Barrett Blake '78, system chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services at Sinai Chicago, said about the event, "It was great to have an open dialogue about the current state of nursing education with Saint Xavier nursing faculty. We focused on what we as clinical partners can do to improve the experiences for students and what they need to be better prepared to transition into practice. We need to adapt both educational approaches and orientation to accommodate the new generation of students."
Clinical partners shared the common thoughts that the strengths of SXU nursing graduates who enter their programs include an eagerness to learn, excitement about joining the workforce and fresh skills combined with great clinical experience. SXU faculty were pleased with the success of the event and the important discussions that took place.
"This networking opportunity allowed many of our students to hand-deliver their resumes to prospective employers. One organization made nine job offers to our students during the afternoon. Gathering many of our clinical affiliates in one room to discuss the future of nursing education will allow us to graduate stronger nurses that will become the future employees of our clinical partners," said Megan Pet, DNP, RN, director of undergraduate nursing.