Burlington High School health care apprentices getting real world experience working in hospital

Burlington High School has launched an apprenticeship program to help students decide if a career in health care is right for them and potentially sustain generations of medical professionals in the area.

As part of BHS's Career Technical Education program, three health-science students have begun working at Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in West Burlington as part of a year-long apprenticeship program.

"There's certain things that we can't re-create in the classroom," said Brian Johnson, director of district services for the Burlington School District. "This gives them that opportunity to take some of the skills that they've learned in our classes here and be able to do it in different departments at the hospital.

"And that's probably the more important part. It's not about learning new skills, it's about applying what they've learned in a realistic setting."

The program

Johnson worked with Great River Health, owner and operator of SEIRMC, to set up the health occupations apprenticeship program and select three students to participate starting in August.

While this is the first year for this apprenticeship program, the 2022-23 school year marks the fifth year of the health science elective program that essentially gives high school students an introduction to the health care field.

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The classes include Intro to Patient Care I and II; Health Occupation Exploration; Health Systems, Common Procedures; Med Terminology; Human Relations; Med, Law and Ethics.

In addition to high school credits, some of the classes count as concurrent enrollment courses for Southeastern Community College, which allows students to earn high school and college credits at the same time.

The health sciences classes essentially function as prerequisites for the apprenticeship program, which is currently open only to juniors and seniors.

"We like to see that it's kids that are definitely interested in our classes and keep coming back and taking more, and we know that they are really serious," said Jill Smith, a nurse who has been teaching health science courses at BHS for the past five years.

Eight students applied for the three apprenticeship positions, with the goal of allowing the students to be exposed to a variety of jobs that they might encounter while working at a hospital.

The three students have been able to choose the type of work they can do at the hospital in seven areas, including hospital sitting, nutrition, diagnostic imaging, surgical aide, CNA, and working for the Klein Center (which specializes in long-term care).

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The students are paid by the hospital, earning $15 an hour, working 8-20 hours over the course of a three-day work week.

Getting real-world experience

Two of the students spoke to The Hawk Eye about the program, both saying their experiences have presented challenges but also have been educational and eye-opening, in terms of helping them narrow down what kind of careers in health care they can see themselves pursuing.

Mallorie Machholz, a senior, is one of the apprentices. She has been working the hospital sitting position, which requires providing patients with supervision, companionship and other forms of care.

"That (position) tends to be with a lot of older patients that typically are confused or don't quite understand what's going on," Machholz said. "I just get to go and sit with people.

"The best way I can describe it is 'hands-off nursing.' If (a patient) starts doing something that they shouldn't be doing, I just redirect them. If they need water, I get them water. I get them blankets. I call their nurse when they need something beyond my level of care."

Analicia Lopez, is also a senior who has already taken some of BHS's health science courses, earned her CNA license through SCC's concurrent enrollment program, and previously worked for SEIRMC as a nutrition aide. She said she was initially hesitant about applying for the apprenticeship.

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"I had a lot of stuff to do this summer, but then I decided I'll just apply," Lopez said. "But when we started to do the interview, it started to sound like something I really wanted to do, because I want to be a nurse, probably in obstetrics. I like babies."

Lopez also noted that the health care work she had been able to do in the past was limited and that she felt the apprenticeship could offer a wider exposure to different forms of health care work, thus making it easier for her to choose what to study.

Helping students decide on the right path

That variety of exposure is one key purpose for the program.

Both Smith and Laurie Kriener, a nurse and second-year instructor for BHS's health science program, say the opportunity to get in-person experience in a hospital setting can be instrumental in helping someone decide if health care work is right for them.

"When (Johnson) came to us and said he had an apprenticeship opportunity, I was super excited for the kids," Kriener said. "I did internships over the summer when I was in college and that's when I found the areas (of nursing) that I really wanted to work in. I actually did an internship in education with Jill when she was in college and I always thought, 'Oh my gosh, this would be such a cool job.'"

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Kriener and Smith say one of the main benefits of BHS's health science program and apprenticeships at SEIRMC is that those experiences may spare some students from enrolling in college to study an academic discipline that isn't right for them.

"We're really trying to frontload these kids with the (health care) experiences they're getting, so they're not just picking something and saying, 'That's what I'm going to do' based off of no experience," Smith said.

Machholz can attest to the impact of that kind of first-hand exposure. She told The Hawk Eye her apprenticeship has already made her more open to a different health care career than she initially wanted to pursue.

"I was actually hoping to be a paramedic," Machholz said. "I was really interested in being in that first part of the health care system rather than waiting for the person to get to be at the hospital. I wanted to be that first step to making sure that they're OK.

"But the more I've actually gone through the apprenticeship, nursing has become more a possibility for me. It's been really nice to see the patient interaction, where it wouldn't be just be a new (patient) every so often, it'd be working with the same people over and over and over again."

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Lopez also said her apprentice experience is helping her determine which health care careers she can see herself pursuing even further and which ones might not be a good fit, adding that she doesn't think she would want to work in an emergency room.

"I really like working with people and would like to be in charge of my own little group," Lopez said of her nursing ambitions. "I find that I'm more interested in working with children. But I like working with everyone."

An area pipeline for desperately needed health care professionals

Lopez and Machholz also say the apprenticeship has shown them how difficult working in health care can be, especially when dealing with staffing shortages and having to figure out how to spread resources to maintain patient care.

In Smith and Kriener's view, the need for more health care professionals both locally and throughout the country is a motivating factor in their efforts to educate.

"I don't feel pressure, but I do feel the passion," Kriener said. "I know what it's like for these nurses to be overwhelmed with the patient-to-nurse ratio. All our friends are working mandated overtime. They're working 12-hour shifts and then they're picking up an extra two or more shifts."

"I think that also is encouraging our kids," Smith added. "You will have a job, if this is the career you want to go into."

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There are no plans to expand the health care apprenticeship program, but Smith and Kriener say BHS is looking at other health care providers in the region for potential partnerships.

Smith hopes the success of the current students at SEIRMC will increase the number of apprenticeships at the hospital in the years to come.

"We know we've got really strong students that are placed there right now," Smith said. "Ideally, there will be an advantage and the hospital will see a positive in having these kids (working for them) and we will be able to place even more students in the future."

Kriener said she believes the apprenticeship program and BHS's health science courses will not only make the Burlington School District more attractive to those considering moving to the area, but also help provide a new generation of medical professionals to the area.

"There's not a lot of school systems around us that even have a health science program," Kriener said. "It's just rewarding to see our school invest in the need for it, so that we can hopefully fill the void in southeast Iowa for health care professionals. The goal is to encourage kids to go into health care, enjoy it and then stay local if they can. It's a win-win for the entire community."

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What their future may hold

Machholz and Lopez both say they are considering studying nursing at the University of Iowa.

Machholz said she might be open to staying in Iowa or the Burlington area, but Lopez thinks she would rather live in a bigger city.

Both say they would encourage any Burlington students interested in working in the health care field to take the health science courses and apply for the apprenticeships.

"I actually don't mind the work," Lopez said. "Everyone is going to be (in need of health care) at some point. ...You see things and you hear things that make you really upset, but you can't really do anything because you don't have the power for that. But this is what I want to do. I want to make things better."

Brad Vidmar covers public safety and education for The Hawk Eye and can be reached via email at BVidmar@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Burlington High School apprentices get look at medical professions