Student nurse interns join VUMC
On May 16, Vanderbilt University Medical Center will welcome 60 nursing students from four area schools as they attain hands-on clinical experience through Vanderbilt Experience: Student Nurse Internship Program (VESNIP).
The students, who are between their junior and senior year of nursing school at Austin Peay State University, Belmont University, Cumberland University and Western Kentucky University, will rotate through units and clinics while working one-on-one with a VUMC preceptor.
Spending 36 hours each week for the eight weeks of the program at VUMC, the students gain increased confidence and competence.
“The students are able to gain real world nursing experience during this program that is not possible during a typical school clinical rotation,” said Debianne Peterman, Ph.D., M.S.N., director of Nursing Education and Professional Development.
Justin Reed, R.N., now a nurse resident on 9 North, was a VESNIP participant while in nursing school at WKU.
“The hospital in Bowling Green is good, but we saw a lot of the same thing every day, especially COPD. I wanted to advance my learning and get Vanderbilt experience,” he said. “I grew every week, and my preceptors had me engaged in every learning situation. Chest tubes, trachs … I got to see it all. I was not confident in the beginning, and the program was a huge boost.”