West Virginia Junior College, Bridgeport partners with many hospitals and facilities around the region to provide diverse educational experiences for our registered nursing students. This includes everything from a level one trauma facility to various rural clinics that serve our community. The Clinical Coordinator for WVJC Bridgeport Campus is excited to utilize St. Joseph’s Hospital for clinical sites in the registered nurse program.
The hospital dates back to 1921 when four catholic sisters purchased the beautiful Barlow estate on a hilltop overlooking Buckhannon. Since then, the hospital has developed from an eight-bed hospital to a fifty-one-bed hospital and a medical community dedicated to serving the residents of central West Virginia.
St Joseph’s Hospital is also a part of West Virginia University Health System, which is West Virginia’s most extensive health system and largest private employer.
Having WVJC students completing clinicals at various WVU Medicine facilities lessens the transition from student to an employer once they have graduated. It also helps alleviate the stress for the new graduate nurses because they are familiar with their settings. Many of our students commute from south-central West Virginia, so this hospital lessens their drive. They are currently on the second floor of the hospital, providing direct patient care. The students develop solid fundamental skills on the medical-surgical floor. Our students love the friendly staff and community feels the hospital offers.
Students can complete head-to-toe assessments, glucose monitoring, obtain vital signs, and chart in the hospital’s electronic health record system known as Epic. Epic is used in over fifty percent of the hospitals nationwide, giving our nursing students an advantage working with a well-known electronic health record system for when they graduate and begin their careers as strong, knowable nurses.
While at clinicals, the students work directly with patients and healthcare providers to deliver safe, compassionate care as they develop the necessary nursing skills to become strong, competent registered nurses upon graduation. WVJC loves to give back to the community, and we feel having students in various hospitals around the area serves a dual purpose. We are giving back to the patients in our surrounding communities while obtaining a great educational experience for our nursing students.
West Virginia Junior College, Bridgeport campus students have had wonderful comments from their clinical experiences at this facility. They feel the staff are very welcoming to students and enjoy teaching. The clinical instructors feel very relaxed and a part of the team when they are on the floors. They feel the medical staff appreciate the students and their hard work and are happy when they arrive because of their enthusiasm and drive to learn. Elizabeth (Libby) Stingo, Director of Education, is extremely friendly and easy to work with to ensure the students receive the best educational experiences possible. We at WVJC-Bridgeport are thrilled with the newfound partnership we have created at St. Joseph’s and look forward to utilizing this state-of-the-art facility for years to come.
To learn more about our programs at WVJC Bridgeport, request information here!
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