Students Learn from the Best at BWH

NICU nurse Judy Panzeri-Hill, RN, doesn’t let just anyone hold her tiny patients, but she does trust six outstanding students with the job.

“They’re very responsible,” Panzeri-Hill said of the 40 high school and college students, who work in the NICU, rocking and soothing babies, bonding with families, answering phones and stocking linens and beds, as part of a summer employment program run by the Department of Patient Care Services and coordinated by Rob Croteau.

“The students in our program are the cream of the crop,” said Leo Buckley, director of Business Services for Patient Care Services and the executive sponsor for the program. “This is a fast-paced environment, and we have to depend on them to be responsible.”

The NICU program—new this year—was the idea of Nurse Manager Marianne Cummings, MSN, RN, to support staff and patients and provide an opportunity for would-be care providers just beginning to think about their careers. Thanks to the comprehensive training and orientation provided by Deirdre Greene, RN, nurse in-charge, and Beth McManus, PT, the students quickly learned about appropriate developmental care and how to best assist staff.

Another of the Patient Care Services programs, the Activities Assistant Program, is a favorite among nurses and patients on several units. It reduces the need for sitters by pairing certain patients and students for activities like taking walks, visiting the Bretholtz Center for Patients and Families and playing cards and other games.

“Patients love it,” Mary Antonelli, MPH, RN, Nursing’s program manager for Quality, said. “Our students have a special way of understanding, caring and communicating that really engages the patients.”

The programs give students insight into the inner-workings of the hospital and demonstrate the impact care givers have on patients and families. Emily Conroy, of Patient/Family Relations, spent several years working as a unit coordinator through the program while she was a student. “I remember seeing a patient code for the first time,” she said. “It was scary, but amazing to see everyone come together to try to save a life.”

In his role as a unit coordinator in the Cardiac Surgery ICU, Adam Layne cites patient interaction as his favorite part of the job. In particular, he bonded with a woman who recently had a heart valve replaced.

“We had a lot in common,” he said. “We like the same type of movies, and we’re both big Stephen King fans.”

As Layne prepares to head to George Washington University to study chemistry and business management, he reflected on his time at BWH. “You not only learn a lot about other people, but you get experience in the real world working with adults and helping staff, patients and families,” he said.