Beyond clinical: my UC nursing co-op and DEU experience

By: Alicia Shepard, Bachelor of Science in Nursing '23, Nursing Student Ambassador

Although nobody in my family comes from a health care background, I’ve always known that was the path I wanted to follow. Nursing became the obvious choice in high school, when a few people I knew started nursing school and I learned more about the flexibility the profession offers — you can work in inpatient or outpatient settings, be an educator, a researcher or a nurse practitioner.

When I started researching nursing schools, I had two priorities: schools that had hospitals nearby and those that offered a direct-admit nursing program, since a lot of colleges require students to apply for the Bachelor of Nursing in their sophomore year and you’re not guaranteed a spot. Being from Ohio, I had already heard great things about the UC College of Nursing and the school met those two main requirements.

What I wasn't fully aware of when I chose UC were the opportunities I would be given to develop as a nurse through unique hands-on programs. Sure, every nursing school offers clinicals, but what I have been able to experience is far beyond that.

During the spring term of my sophomore year, in 2021, I got accepted into the college’s Dedicated Education Units (DEU). UC is one of the few colleges in the country to offer this program, where students are paired 1:1 with a registered nurse on a designated hospital floor where this nurse works – the med surg at University of Cincinnati Medical Center, in my case. Although I had already worked at a hospital as a PCA before joining the DEU, I got to do much more and learn from a nurse preceptor who answered my questions right on the spot. I enjoyed caring for all my preceptor’s patients for entire shifts, learned about patient hand-off, EPIC, time management and how to fully utilize resources available.