Nurse Recruiter’s Son Enjoys Cleveland Clinic’s Launchpad to Nursing Boot Camp
Katie Cwalinski is a Lead Recruiter on Cleveland Clinic’s Talent Acquisition team within the organization’s Caregiver Office. She spends a majority of her days engaging with candidates for roles in nursing and for the Office of Nursing Education and Professional Development. However, what is likely the most important and favorite role that she plays is “Mom” to her son, Jack. Recently, Jack was inspired by her daily interactions with nursing professionals and joined Cleveland Clinic’s “Launchpad to Nursing Boot Camp,” organized by Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Nursing Exploration (CNCE).
Reaching Out into the Community
These new Boot Camps have been designed to provide 6th through 8th graders and 9th through 10th graders in our nearby communities with real-world, immersive learning experiences that showcase what nursing is all about and helps introduce them to these careers. The Boot Camp has held three cohorts at area hospitals, with more planned in upcoming months. Each four- to five-hour, interactive class includes around 30 children.
According to Linda Gardner, Senior Director, Nursing Education, “The strategic vision of the CNCE is to provide essential resources for internal and external individuals looking for nursing career exploration and navigation at the Cleveland Clinic.”
“This boot camp allows us to focus on 6th to 8th graders. Research has shown that we really need to target those grades sooner. Yes, nursing is a feel-good field, but we need to show them that it is about math and science and critical thinking and innovation.”
Not Just Seeing, But Doing
Katie understands the importance of reaching kids at an early age and giving them the opportunity to explore and learn. She adds, “Boot Camp Day gave Jack exposure to what nurses do — and it isn’t just about being nice and wanting to help people. It was actually showing his group hands-on skills. They went over everything from a chart review to reviewing their medications. They read test results and had to make a determination of what was going on with the patient,” Katie says.
This Boot Camp was a perfect match for Jack because he had been around nurses for quite a while. “He’s familiar with nursing because he hears me talk about it through work. My sister-in-law’s a nurse, and we have family members that are in the medical field. I think this exposure was a good thing for him to see a little bit more about what’s out there,” Katie says.
Targeting the Right Age
The organizers of Cleveland Clinic’s unique Boot Camp believe this instruction will pique the curiosity of many middle school students. “It’s an opportunity that I’m not aware other healthcare systems are doing,” Katie says. “It’s a chance to learn some skills sets and open their mind to other things that are out there. It might make it less intimidating for them as they get older. This is a middle school program, so as these kids are going into their high school planning and looking at classes, this will give them more exposure. Maybe this is something they were never exposed to or didn’t even know what it was,” Katie says.
“Jack just started 7th grade. Typically, the only interaction kids have with nurses is when they’re sick or go to the doctor’s office for a check-up. Or maybe they go to see a family member who’s in the hospital and they don’t have to ask any questions. They just sit and watch what’s going on. This gives them the opportunity to see how nurses start an IV and what it means to don and doff a gown (put on and take off PPE [personal protective equipment] properly to minimize the risk of exposure and avoid self-contamination), and why they wash their hands.
Even more impressive, the kids learned the proper way to do chest compressions (CPR), with stiff arms, and how to count. Katie says, “They literally played the Bee Gee’s ‘Stayin’ Alive (often used to help people perform CPR at the correct tempo).”
She adds, “It’s not that he could go and do chest compressions right now, but he could certainly know enough to help an adult if they were doing them.”
A Future Nurse in the Making?
“It was an awesome experience for Jack. He said his favorite part was doing the chart review because he was able to ask questions like, ‘What does this mean? What does that mean? What’s the diagnosis?’ He likes to ask questions. He also liked the PPE station for some reason, “Katie laughs.
Who knows? We may all discover Jack managing a nursing floor at Cleveland Clinic or leading a boot camp of his own someday.
Interested in Joining?
More information on the Launchpad to Nursing Boot Camp, along with instructions to register, can be found by following this link. To participate, students must be in at least 6th grade by the start of the upcoming academic school year and should be interested in a nursing career. Sessions are held at the following Cleveland Clinic locations: Cleveland Clinic Main Campus, Hillcrest Hospital, West Park Learning Center and Cleveland Clinic Akron General.
Katie Cwalinski is a Lead Recruiter on Cleveland Clinic’s Talent Acquisition team within the organization’s Caregiver Office. She spends a majority of her days engaging with candidates for roles in nursing and for the Office of Nursing Education and Professional Development. However, what is likely the most important and favorite role that she plays is “Mom” to her son, Jack. Recently, Jack was inspired by her daily interactions with nursing professionals and joined Cleveland Clinic’s “Launchpad to Nursing Boot Camp,” organized by Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Nursing Exploration (CNCE).
Reaching Out into the Community
These new Boot Camps have been designed to provide 6th through 8th graders and 9th through 10th graders in our nearby communities with real-world, immersive learning experiences that showcase what nursing is all about and helps introduce them to these careers. The Boot Camp has held three cohorts at area hospitals, with more planned in upcoming months. Each four- to five-hour, interactive class includes around 30 children.
According to Linda Gardner, Senior Director, Nursing Education, “The strategic vision of the CNCE is to provide essential resources for internal and external individuals looking for nursing career exploration and navigation at the Cleveland Clinic.”
“This boot camp allows us to focus on 6th to 8th graders. Research has shown that we really need to target those grades sooner. Yes, nursing is a feel-good field, but we need to show them that it is about math and science and critical thinking and innovation.”
Not Just Seeing, But Doing
Katie understands the importance of reaching kids at an early age and giving them the opportunity to explore and learn. She adds, “Boot Camp Day gave Jack exposure to what nurses do — and it isn’t just about being nice and wanting to help people. It was actually showing his group hands-on skills. They went over everything from a chart review to reviewing their medications. They read test results and had to make a determination of what was going on with the patient,” Katie says.
This Boot Camp was a perfect match for Jack because he had been around nurses for quite a while. “He’s familiar with nursing because he hears me talk about it through work. My sister-in-law’s a nurse, and we have family members that are in the medical field. I think this exposure was a good thing for him to see a little bit more about what’s out there,” Katie says.
Targeting the Right Age
The organizers of Cleveland Clinic’s unique Boot Camp believe this instruction will pique the curiosity of many middle school students. “It’s an opportunity that I’m not aware other healthcare systems are doing,” Katie says. “It’s a chance to learn some skills sets and open their mind to other things that are out there. It might make it less intimidating for them as they get older. This is a middle school program, so as these kids are going into their high school planning and looking at classes, this will give them more exposure. Maybe this is something they were never exposed to or didn’t even know what it was,” Katie says.
“Jack just started 7th grade. Typically, the only interaction kids have with nurses is when they’re sick or go to the doctor’s office for a check-up. Or maybe they go to see a family member who’s in the hospital and they don’t have to ask any questions. They just sit and watch what’s going on. This gives them the opportunity to see how nurses start an IV and what it means to don and doff a gown (put on and take off PPE [personal protective equipment] properly to minimize the risk of exposure and avoid self-contamination), and why they wash their hands.
Even more impressive, the kids learned the proper way to do chest compressions (CPR), with stiff arms, and how to count. Katie says, “They literally played the Bee Gee’s ‘Stayin’ Alive (often used to help people perform CPR at the correct tempo).”
She adds, “It’s not that he could go and do chest compressions right now, but he could certainly know enough to help an adult if they were doing them.”
A Future Nurse in the Making?
“It was an awesome experience for Jack. He said his favorite part was doing the chart review because he was able to ask questions like, ‘What does this mean? What does that mean? What’s the diagnosis?’ He likes to ask questions. He also liked the PPE station for some reason, “Katie laughs.
Who knows? We may all discover Jack managing a nursing floor at Cleveland Clinic or leading a boot camp of his own someday.
Interested in Joining?
More information on the Launchpad to Nursing Boot Camp, along with instructions to register, can be found by following this link. To participate, students must be in at least 6th grade by the start of the upcoming academic school year and should be interested in a nursing career. Sessions are held at the following Cleveland Clinic locations: Cleveland Clinic Main Campus, Hillcrest Hospital, West Park Learning Center and Cleveland Clinic Akron General.
