Wynn Hospital, the new facility where nursing students clinicals are held. Photo courtesy of Arissa Rendino.

Nursing students have completed clinicals at Wynn Hospital for almost four months now after the transfer from St. Luke’s Hospital on Oct. 29. Throughout the initial weeks of the transition, students encountered some difficulties with supply access and workflow with staff but say the hospital has become more organized over time. 

According to Paula Furseth, clinical skills lab and simulation coordinator, there were second thoughts among faculty on sending students to start clinical at the new hospital right away.

“The hospital was not prepared for students, let alone staff,” Furseth said. “For the first two weeks, staff was scrambling around and there was not the supplies we needed and it was not organized well, but it all worked out and is resolved now.” 

The new hospital is equipped with newer technology and an efficient layout that students have had the opportunity to work on practical nursing skills in. Furseth said students are adjusting well because it is overall “a better facility that is set up nicely” and has “bigger rooms” that provide more space for patients and medical equipment. 

 “The updated technology amazes me everyday because something simple like taking vitals takes time due to the patient load, but now patients are hooked up to monitors and it’s done for you, alerting you when there’s an abnormality,” junior nursing student Arissa Rendino said.

The main issue still affecting students is the lack of parking at the hospital. Rendino said it is “frustrating” that the parking garage is yet to be completed because it makes the commute for students prolonged. 

“The shuttle is one of the biggest changes for students; however, this is very common among other hospitals,” Furseth said. “A couple other professors and myself have changed our clinical times to make sure there is always a shuttle available for students.”

The construction of a new hospital from the ground-up is a rare occurrence. Most won’t have this opportunity in their whole career and the faculty and nursing students are “very fortunate” to be able to work in a new facility, Furseth said. 

The new hospital shows the progression and transformation of health services and technology for current and future generations of nursing students, opening a window of opportunities. 

 “I think the students appreciate what a modern hospital looks like,” Furseth said.