TAMPA, Fla. — A new partnership between AdventHealth University and AdventHealth Tampa is putting nursing students directly into the hospital, where they can learn alongside nurses while caring for real patients.
The hospital recently launched its first Dedicated Education Unit, a program designed to give nursing students more consistent, hands-on clinical experience while helping strengthen the pipeline of future nurses.
Six nursing students, including Natalia Cabral, are among the first students participating in the program.
“Having clinicals here at the hospital and this opportunity to be a DEU student gives me that one-on-one connection with one nurse,” Cabral said.
Unlike a traditional clinical rotation, where students may move between different units and nurses, the Dedicated Education Unit allows students to work closely with a specific nurse and develop their skills over time.
Cabral said the arrangement has helped build her confidence.
“It allows me to cultivate the skills directly with one nurse versus coming back and forth and having to rebuild my confidence each week,” she said. “My confidence has skyrocketed since starting.”
Students are assigned to AdventHealth Tampa’s neuro-progressive care unit, where they work alongside licensed nurses and interact with patients receiving care.
Josie Gold, assistant dean at AdventHealth University, said the experience gives students an opportunity to connect with the community they will eventually serve.
“They get to meet people, they get to work with those in the community that they then turn around and serve after graduation,” Gold said.
Hospital leaders say the program also is intended to help address the ongoing need for nurses.
Charity Carlisle, chief nursing officer at AdventHealth Tampa, said the experience can make the transition from nursing student to hospital employee smoother.
“The students gain confidence and competence while they’re at the unit,” Carlisle said. “It really creates a married state or a teamwork approach and it makes much smoother transition for student nurses to become employees at the hospital.”
AdventHealth Tampa is the second hospital in the area to launch a Dedicated Education Unit. AdventHealth previously opened one at its hospital in Zephyrhills.
The health system said it hopes to expand the program in the coming years, allowing more nursing students to gain clinical experience in its hospitals.
Nursing programs at universities such as the University of South Florida and St. Leo University also provide students with clinical experience at area hospitals.
The difference is that AdventHealth University students participating in the Dedicated Education Unit can complete their clinical training directly at AdventHealth Tampa rather than rotating through different hospital assignments.
The goal is to give students more consistent exposure to hospital operations, patients and experienced nurses — while creating a potential pipeline of future employees for AdventHealth.