Nursing Pre Grad Intern Rachel Adeoye
My experience being in IE this semester has been great. As someone planning to attend graduate school, it has been a real eye opener. I was able to learn all the difference elements it takes to be successful in grad school.
My mentor, Lisa, has been just amazing. She is a current Ph.D. student in the school Nursing here at UT. Her research focuses on mobile health and how we can integrate technology and health promotion. Although I don’t plan to go into the Ph.D. level until much later, I didn’t realize how much reading was involved. Close to 400 articles a semester. And this is in addition to her job and other course work. She also made me realize that grad school is absolutely doable. Some people make you feel like it completely impossible, but just from watching my mentor, I learned that it challenging but doable.
Lisa was also a great source of encouragement and support during my grad school application process to the Master’s Program here at UT. In addition to writing a letter of recommendation for me, she introduced me to several of her colleagues and some professors in the nursing school. In fact, one of the professors she introduced me to is who I interviewed for my faculty interview assignment.
On another occasion, we attended a research poster fair. The fair exposed me to the non-clinical/research side of nursing that many people are not familiar with. At this fair, I was able to explore and read about all the wonderful research the nursing students are doing.
As part of my internship, I shadowed my mentor at the hospital where she serves as a Clinical Nurse Educator. I was able to shadow her as she completed rounds through the hospital. I got to witness the entire process of going from room to room and visiting each patient individually. I learned that nursing is not robotic. You are constantly adjusting. Each patient's needs are different, therefore as a nurse, you have to accommodate for those differences. Some patients like their room really dark, some like all the lights on. Some need you to explain the procedures and some just want to get it all over with.
I was also able to sit in on a board meeting with hospital administrators. Here I witnessed how they establish certain policies and procedures that directly affect what happens on the hospital floor.
Overall, I really enjoyed my internship experience and learned a great deal from my mentor. I believe this program has definitely given me an edge when I get to graduate school.