OhioHealth Partners With Xavier University for Nursing Career Growth
This is the first patient many nursing students see. He’s a computerized teaching tool.
“These mannequins are able to get IV fluids into them. They have vital signs that the nurses can monitor. They’re able to put feed tubes into them. They can practice wound dressing," said Megan Jackson, OhioHealth clinical educator, and Xavier Columbus ABSN program clinical educator.
For nursing students, he’s the perfect patient. Jackson says he lets them learn from their mistakes.
“It’s essentially a safe controlled environment for the students to practice in without having their first time to practice be on a live patient," Jackson said.
This lab is a key part of the new joint program in the Polaris area, between Xavier University in Cincinnati and OhioHealth. They’re merging their skills to offer people who already have college degrees, the chance to become nurses.
“They’ve been doing something else that’s unsatisfying for some reason. They want to make a bigger difference. This program helps them do that," said Father Michael Graham, Xavier University president.
“It’s 16 months. They graduate with a baccalaureate degree from Xavier University,” Dr. Judy Lewis, Interim Director, Xavier College of Nursing said.
A national study found that in the next ten years, one million nurses will retire.
“We’re here to meet the demand in central Ohio," Dr. Lewis said.
“The opportunity to come here and help remediate that problem here in another city in Ohio, was just for us a kind of win-win-win-win-win in all kinds of ways," Father Graham said.
Jackson says both Xavier and OhioHealth share similar values.
“Xavier’s motto is to focus on the uniqueness and wholeness of each person, whereas OhioHealth’s mission is to improve the health of those we serve. Those are very much in conjunction together," said Jackson.
And once the students graduate, Jackson says there’s another plus.
“There’s a 100 percent guarantee for an opportunity for placement within OhioHealth, so I’m excited to have them become part of our OhioHealth family," said Jackson.
