Concord Hospital Partners with Saint Joseph’s College of Maine Online to Prepare Next Generation of Nurses
A new academic partnership is helping nursing students turn online learning into hands-on patient care experience at Concord Hospital, and for some of its first participants, that experience is becoming the beginning of a career within Concord Hospital Health System (CHHS).
Concord Hospital is the first hospital in New Hampshire to partner with Saint Joseph's College of Maine Online to provide clinical training opportunities for students enrolled in its nursing program. Students complete their didactic coursework online and travel to Maine for designated laboratory experiences before completing much of their clinical education alongside nurses and healthcare professionals at Concord Hospital.
"We see clinical education as an investment in the future of nursing,"; said Academic-Practice Partner and Student Placement Coordinator Emily Higgins, DNP, MSN, RN, ONC. "Strong partnerships with nursing programs help strengthen the workforce pipeline while providing students with meaningful, high-quality clinical experiences."
After completing their nursing education, graduates must successfully pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) to become licensed registered nurses. Among the program’s newest graduates are Jessica Fenton and Bryanne Barna, who will graduate from Saint Joseph's College of Maine at the end of August.
For Fenton, clinical rotations at Concord Hospital provided exposure to different departments, teams, and approaches to patient care, helping prepare her for the responsibilities of becoming a nurse.
"In each department, not only were the nurses and staff we were working with helpful and full of knowledge, but they made us feel welcomed and encouraged," Fenton said. "We all feel that our experience with Concord Hospital has immensely helped us prepare to be nurses."
Fenton spent approximately 15 months completing clinical experiences at Concord Hospital, including individual placements and later clinical experiences alongside classmates. She credited her unit preceptors and her instructors, Caroline Peterson Henry and Emily Higgins, with helping students gain the clinical experience they needed to prepare for their careers.
Barna similarly described her clinical experience at Concord Hospital as an opportunity to strengthen both her skills and confidence as a future nurse.
"Throughout my clinical experiences, they have given me countless opportunities to strengthen my critical thinking skills, provide compassionate patient care and expand my nursing knowledge," Barna said. "Without the incredible team at Concord Hospital being so supportive, welcoming and dedicated to teaching nursing students, this journey would not have been as meaningful or successful."
The partnership represents one of several ways CHHS works with academic institutions to introduce students to healthcare careers, provide clinical learning opportunities, and help develop the future healthcare workforce.
"Our culture supports and fosters students no matter where they end up working after graduation," shared Higgins. "However, we do find these connections can influence where they choose to begin their careers and help students see CHHS as a place where they can grow and build their future."
For Fenton and Barna, that progression from student to prospective nurse at Concord Hospital demonstrates the potential impact of those relationships. After learning from Concord Hospital nurses and caring for patients alongside them, both will now have the opportunity to bring those experiences into their own nursing practice.
"I am truly grateful for the impact they have had on my growth as a future nurse," Barna said of the Concord Hospital team.
Both Fenton and Barna have already chosen Concord Hospital as the place where they will begin the next chapter of their nursing careers. Fenton has accepted a position in the emergency department, while Barna has accepted a position on 6 North/South.
