Virtual Hospital to Real-Time Care Arena: Top Nursing Students Recall Clinical Experiences Made Possible Through the Presidential Fellowship Program
Demanding, rewarding and empowering are words used by Nursing graduates You Wu and Jerome Agiplay to describe their recent experiences as practicing nurses at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Flushing, Queens.
Their experiences were made possible by the prestigious Presidential Fellowship Program (PFP), led by Janice Malloy, Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing at Queensborough Community College. The competitive PFP does not carry a monetary award however it does allow faculty recipients release time to plan and implement their particular projects.
Wu and Agiplay, who both graduated from Queensborough in January of 2017, were two of eleven nursing students, out of a class of 38, who applied for the senior capstone experience. Their winning qualifications included excellent academic records, superlative performances in laboratory practices and outstanding interview skills.
“There is no better training for any career than to participate in real-world experiences while still studying in the classroom,” said Professor Malloy, who interviewed the student applicants along with Anne Marie Menendez, Professor and Chairperson, Nursing. “This is especially true for nursing students who must be exposed to mission critical situations. This program allowed our best students to be placed into the clinical arena where their nursing skills were tested in real-time.”
Under the program Wu and Agiplay reported to clinical duty three days a week for five weeks, often working 12-hour days. During that time they each carried nine credits of clinical study at Queensborough, including three exams and one final for the NCLEX readiness exam. Both Wu and Agiplay learned on January 15 that they passed the 2017 NCLEX exam!
At New York-Presbyterian, preceptors (supervisors) guided the students in managing a caseload of six to eight patients, administering medicines, communicating with medical teams, and coordinating psychological-social treatment.
“My mentors at Queensborough gave me a solid foundation to succeed in this program,” said Agiplay, who has continued his studies in nursing through Queensborough’s Dual/Joint program in nursing with York College. “I further learned how to present myself as a nurse to patients, some of whom were in the last stages of life.”
“Like New York-Presbyterian Hospital, our nursing department has a strong, positive reputation in the community,” said Professor Malloy. “We hope our standing helps us to expand the number of participating students in the PFP program as well as additional clinical arenas.”
Future caregivers graduating from Queensborough’s nursing program lit their candles on January 5, 2017 during the semi-annual Candlelighting ceremony. The ceremony marked the graduation of 37 nursing students, of which a full 22% were men—higher than the national average of 9.6% for male nursing graduates.
Queensborough’s competitive nursing program once again had the highest scores for the 2016 NCLEX pass rates among all CUNY two-year and senior colleges, surpassing even New York University, Binghamton and Columbia University.
Queensborough’s nursing program is renowned for its diligence in keeping pace with technology, addressing the needs of veterans and offering Dual/Joint programs with CUNY’s Hunter College, York College and CUNY School of Professional Studies.
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