Rachael Bachhofer, nursing senior, prepares for her career by working at two hospitals between classes and clinicals.
Bachhofer will finish her clinicals this week and graduate in May. She will return to OCU for the nursing education program in the fall.
“I’ll get my doctorate and hopefully teach nursing here,” she said. “Eventually, the ultimate goal is to be the dean of the nursing school here.”
Bachhofer’s last clinicals are at St. Anthony’s Hospital, 1000 N. Lee Ave. Clinicals are opportunities for nursing students to apply class work in a practical setting by shadowing and assisting nurses. The number of hours and type of clinical assignment are determined by the student’s class schedule.
Bachhofer started working at St. Anthony’s during her first year of nursing school.
“I started there just to gain experience,” she said. “I’m a nursing assistant in the float pool, which means I work in all the units, whenever they need extra help.”
Officials at Integris Baptist Medical Center, 3300 N.W. Expressway, hired Bachhofer as a nurse extern after she completed clinicals there. Nurse externs are nursing assistants who can do extra clinical skills if a nurse is present. Two semesters of nursing school are required for the job.
“I work in Seven East, the intermediate care unit for liver transplants at Integris Baptist,” Bachhofer said. “I’m responsible for vital signs, basic hygiene and feeding. With a nurse present, I can put in IVs, insert catheters and draw blood.”
Bachhofer was offered a nursing position at Integris Baptist and will work there when she graduates. During school, she said she is in a hospital about 48 hours a week with clinicals and work hours combined.
“I have class Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so if I don’t have clinicals the next day, I work night shifts,” she said. “It works well with classes but definitely is hard sometimes. Since I switched to the night shift, I have a little more time. If nothing else, it’s motivating me to finish the semester.”
Kelly Pan, nursing junior, said Bachhofer has more passion for the nursing career than anyone she has met.
“Rachael is the best nursing student I know because, not only is she a good student who gets good grades and shows up to class and clinicals on time, but she genuinely cares about each and every patient she meets,” Pan said. “I truly believe she will be the next Florence Nightingale.”
Bachhofer said the best thing about nursing is that she can continue to work shifts at the hospital when she starts teaching.
“Plus, when I assign a clinical, I’ll still be on the floor with my students,” she said.
The hospital is not all fun, but it’s exciting to move on to the next part of life, Bachhofer said.
“Not everyone is nice. That’s just a part of it, though,” she said. “I’ve worked so hard to get to where I’m at, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I love working with people who share the same passions as I do.”
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