News Release

High school students gain firsthand knowledge
about nursing profession at residential program

CHAPEL HILL -- Checking the vital signs of a patient in the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals and witnessing the emergency admission of critical-care patients are among the experiences 42 high school students are having this week through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing’s 2005 Nursing Exploration Week.

The residential program, based on the UNC campus through Friday (June 24), gives students the opportunity to shadow nurses at Triangle-area medical centers. Nurses from Rex Healthcare, the Durham Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center and UNC Hospitals introduce students throughout the week to nursing-care situations they encounter during a typical workday.

The students participating in this year’s program come from 36 N.C. counties and are ages 15 to 17. Fifty percent of them represent a racial or ethnic minority group.

The School of Nursing established Nursing Exploration Week in 1990 to share the profession with students interested in health-care careers. Kathy Moore, director of admissions at the school, tracks the students beyond the program. Of the more than 580 students who have participated in the program since its inception in 1990, more than 40 percent have gone on to become nurses.

"The School of Nursing is extremely proud to offer this program," said Moore, also Nursing Exploration Week director. "We feel it’s a great way to introduce potential nurses to the profession and show them how rewarding a nursing career can be. This type of initiative is especially important in light of the current nursing shortage, which is expected to worsen over the next decade if more nurses aren’t drawn to the field."

Program costs, including meals, lodging and transportation to activities, was $1,250 per student. Participants were asked to pay $300; the rest was subsidized by the program’s sponsors and patrons – Rex Healthcare, UNC’s School of Nursing, the UNC Health Care System, Duke University Health System, the UNC General Alumni Association and the UNC Army and Air Force ROTC units. Sponsors awarded full scholarships for a third of the program participants.

"The students consistently rank the program as very helpful in making their career choices," said Moore. "We have many students who enter the program undecided about a career and, upon completion of the program, decide nursing is the most rewarding profession that he or she can pursue."

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School of Nursing contact: Amanda Dindino, (919) 966-4619 or Amanda_dindino@unc.edu