School of Nursing students get hands-on learning experiences in unique environments

On a warm October afternoon, a group of first-year Clemson University nursing students taking NURS 1020: Nursing Success Skills gathers on the Tiger Band practice field, periodically looking up at the sky as if expecting something. Gradually, a faint whir grows louder by the second. A medical helicopter comes into view, circling the field before launching grass and dust into the air as it lands. After the dust settles, the field quiets except for a hum of anticipation from the students. A flight nurse then ushers them to the helicopter, where they observe equipment and ask questions.

This instance is one of the many experiential learning opportunities the School of Nursing offers its students. At Clemson, first-year nursing students enroll in NURS 1020, a course where they meet once a week with their entire cohort, allowing students to build relationships with the peers they will work with throughout their college careers. Students learn about different aspects of nursing and the various resources that can help them develop and make the transition into college easier.

Clemson nursing students observing the medical helicopter

Guest speakers visit the class each semester to discuss their nursing specialties, giving insight that textbooks cannot. Before the helicopter arrived, students listened to a flight nurse explain his education and career path to demonstrate how one can become a flight nurse, going into detail about a typical workday, the numerous certifications needed and the little-known responsibilities of the job. For example, people do not usually associate nursing with crowd management and survival training, but those skills are necessary depending on the environment that flight nurses are in.

Nursing students’ experiential learning continues well beyond NURS 1020. As students progress in their studies, they continue to “learn by doing” through simulations and clinical environments. In simulation labs, students practice their skills safely before applying them to real patients in clinical environments, which allows them to gain proficiency and confidence in their abilities. Clemson nursing students must have at least 900 hours of clinical experience to graduate, emphasizing the importance of hands-on learning in preparation for a career in health care.

In addition to experiential learning, many academic and professional resources are available to Clemson nursing students. Clemson’s Student Nurses Association chapter invites guest speakers, hosts a career fair, and attends an annual state and national conference. The chapter gives nursing students opportunities to learn and network with professionals and each other outside of the classroom. Students can also access the Academic Success Center to attend a “Success Strategy Workshop” to improve their test-taking and study strategies as well as time management and organizational skills, helping students thrive in their classes.

Flight nurses showing students equipment from the medical helicopter

Clemson’s nursing program provides ample resources to prepare its students for diverse careers in nursing, and it is unique in that it is the only direct admit nursing program in South Carolina. Being a direct admit program allows first-year students accepted into the program to immediately begin their nursing coursework. When discussing the value of having a direct admit program, Adam McFarlane, a lecturer in the School of Nursing, said, “I like to think we’re more collective/collaborative, not competitive. Our students have mentioned this is a big attractor to our program, and we feel it has many advantages –– one of which is we can bring them all together and build community, so to speak –– starting from their first semester as incoming freshmen in this course, NURS 1020.”

By cultivating an environment where students build meaningful working relationships with their peers while learning about various nursing opportunities, the School of Nursing has become an institution where students will flourish. Providing academic and career-building resources that enrich students’ learning outside the classroom allows them to develop and refine their skills and knowledge, creating classes of accomplished and qualified Tiger nurses for years to come.

–Allison Jennings ’25

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