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Beth Taub
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurse manager
Women & Infants Hospital
Providence, R.I.
Beth Taub has hired and worked with hundreds of Community College of Rhode Island nursing graduates in her 19 years at Women & Infants Hospital. She is most impressed that they come to her with the kind of skills that can’t be taught.
“CCRI graduates come prepared with those critical thinking skills that help them succeed, and I think that sets them apart,” she said. “I can teach them the tasks they need perform as NICU nurses, but I can’t teach them to think critically and problem-solve, and I think that’s key to their success.”
Taub, who has worked in neonatal intensive care field since 1980, said tasks in the NICU vary from feeding premature babies – some weigh less than a pound – to starting an IV to pump medication into their tiny veins. New hires undergo an intensive orientation to build their skills for these specific tasks, but Taub said she finds that CCRI grads have a great foundation on which to build. “They think of the patient first; you can’t teach somebody that. That is something they developed while they were in school.”
At the end of orientation, new nurses are ready to care for a stable, intubated infant; by the end of their first year on the job, they are ready to take care of every baby – even the most critical. “It is the best job in the world,” she said.
John Camp
Radiology manager
Roger Williams Medical Center
Providence, R.I.
John Camp not only hires CCRI radiography graduates; he is one. A member of the Class of 1976 at what then was Rhode Island Junior College, he has worked as radiology manager at Roger Williams for about seven of his 30 years at the medical center. He estimates that 95 percent of his staff members are fellow CCRI grads.
“I am happy to have them,” he said. “They take a lot of the stress out of my life.”
Camp said he often hires students who completed their clinical rotations in his department. “They know the doctors, the routine and the equipment,” he said. “They’re ready to go.” But he likes that the program’s consistency means even those students who completed their clinicals elsewhere will graduate prepared and ready to work. “With each class, I know exactly what they will know when they graduate,” he said. “I know who the professors are and what they were expected to learn.”
Graduates often go on to pursue specialties such as MRI, mammography and CT. “The growth potential in radiology is almost unlimited,” he said. “CCRI’s program is great for people looking for a career. Because this isn’t just a job – you come out of the college with a career.”
Laurie Browning
Emergency Department and Women’s Wing manager
South County Hospital
Wakefield, R.I.
Laurie Browning knows a lot about CCRI’s nursing program; not only has she hired and worked with its graduates in her 33 years in the field, but she also has served as an adjunct instructor in the classroom. Asked what she thinks sets CCRI students apart, she points to their maturity.
“It’s a maturity that isn’t age-related, but rather because of their backgrounds and life experiences,” she said. “It’s such a diverse group; many are working other jobs, many have families. I think that really makes a difference in the kind of nurses that come out of this program.”
She finds CCRI students are well prepared for the career that awaits them and called the faculty at the college “wonderful, with a high level of qualification.” Still, there is much for the new nurse to learn. “It’s not until they get on the job that they learn the interpersonal piece of it: What does it mean to work nights and weekends? How do you rearrange your family life? We try to make the transition period as easy as possible.
Browning said she enjoys having nursing students around to watch and learn from the way the staff interacts with patients. “There is a passion involved in this field – either you have it or you don’t,” she said. “They get to see that there is a softer side to this fast-paced work.”
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