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 Shore Health System: From High School Counselors
to Elementary and Middle School Students — The Patient Approach to Nurse
Recruitment
Shore Health System is taking the long view on nurse
recruitment: among its priority goals are “Enhance the image of nursing
for elementary and secondary school students,” and “Influence youth
to choose nursing as a career.” So it’s no surprise that before
program director Cynthia Watson can describe the health system’s youth
outreach efforts, she must first say good-bye to a high school guidance
counselor who has dropped by her office.
“That was one of my counselors,” she
explains—the “my” providing an indicator of the hard-won
progress Watson has made in positioning the health system as a good source of
information on nursing and other health care careers.
“Counselors tell us they need concrete facts when they
work with students,” Watson notes. “So we identify specific careers
and provide answers to such basic questions as ‘How much training do you
need to be a respiratory therapist; where can you go to school to get it, and
how much will it cost; and how much can you expect to be paid when you
graduate?’”
Watson uses a variety of methods to educate guidance
counselors on health care careers in general and nursing in particular. She has
visited more than 50 schools in the health system’s five-county region to
talk to counselors face to face, and all high schools and middle schools have
received a video explaining the specifics of nursing as a career as well as
annual packets of printed information. Watson has also spoken to school
district representatives in regional health career meetings and to smaller
groups of career counselors.
“We learned early that just presenting the information
once is not enough,” says Watson. “Counselors receive a lot of
information, and they may not remember that they have ours.
They need to be continually reinforced—the bottom-line
goal is to have them remember where the information can be obtained.”
Over the past two years Shore Health System has used its
five-year, $600,000 state Nurse Support Program grant from the Health Services
Cost Review Commission to launch or refurbish a whole spectrum of nurse
recruitment programs, including a number targeted at area youth. The latter
include:
- Mini-health fairs targeted to elementary and
middle-school students. This past year roughly 250 students, in batches of
50–60, came to the system’s Easton Memorial Hospital to tour service
areas (the critical care ambulance is a high point) and, fortified with such
fair-like food as hotdogs, to visit a roomful of health-related interactive
stations. There they can test their respiratory prowess and learn the “ins
and outs” of their blood pressure. Every information table also offers
specifics on how a student would prepare for a related health care career.
- A paid health career summer program for high school
students. Six students completed the program in its first year, with
placements in surgical services, maternity, skilled nursing, cardio-pulmonary
service, and the professional practice department. Two of the students are now
in nursing programs; the remaining four are seriously considering health career
programs.
- School-year job internship opportunities for high
school students. While already in place before the health system received
its state grant, the grant has allowed this program to be restructured. A
semester-long internship provides the opportunity for students to work
alongside nurses and other health career workers while exploring careers as
part of their school's curriculum. Tightened performance indicators have had
marked success; prior to restructuring, three to five students took part; this
year, a total of 50 students have participated. Of those who previously
completed the internship, five went on to nursing school and at least ten
participated in the health career club the health system supports as part of a
collaborative effort with regional educational programs. (The club serves high
school students as well as college students enrolled in health career
prerequisite courses. Each monthly meeting focuses on a particular area such as
surgical or emergency services, with nursing consistently represented.)
In summing up, Watson notes that she not only works with
local schools but also with chambers of commerce, faith-based organizations,
county social service agencies, and community groups to spread the
nursing-career word. For example, she organized a health fair for the isolated
and medically underserved population of Chesapeake Bay’s Tilghman Island;
20 health care agencies provided health care support, including giving 60 flu
shots. “It’s all part of my charge to improve the image of nursing,
not only for the young but also for the larger community,” says Watson.
Contact:
Cynthia Watson,
RN BSN
Nurse Support Program Specialist
Shore Health System
219 S.
Washington Street
Easton, MD 21601
410-822-1000 ext. 5457
cwatson@shorehealth.org
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