Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s Nursing department held its inaugural Nursing Bootcamp Aug. 13. More than 50 students from all blocks, including incoming students, attended the event, and Nursing faculty volunteered their time and expertise to make the event a success.
“I’ve been wanting to do something like this to help students quell their beginning-of-the-semester challenges and jitters,” said Cathy Baugham, Block 2 faculty member, who spearheaded the program. “We were able to show them the campus, explain exam blueprinting, answer NCLEX Next-Gen questions and give them time to brush up after summer break.”
Students rotated through several training sessions, including medication dosage calculation, open skills lab, study and success strategies, pharmacology review and Doorway Detectives, an assessment activity focused on honing observation skills before entering a patient’s room.
“I loved seeing how many incoming Block 1 students participated,” said Jenn Voss, Block 1 faculty member. “We are hopeful that meeting them ahead of the semester in a laid-back environment helped ease their stress and build excitement for nursing school.”
“Students always joke about their brains turning to mush over the summer and had been asking for something like this,” said Trish Cruz, Block 3 faculty member. “It was so fun and great to see such a big turnout.”
We anticipate this bootcamp will smooth the transition into classes for our nursing students, especially first-year students.