Vitality Women's Clinic Welcomes CALC Nursing Students to Shadow and Learn
CALC Institute of Technology’s nursing program is getting a real-world boost through a partnership with Vitality Women’s Clinic, where students observe care in personal and challenging moments.
Vitality & CALC Institute Partner to Empower Area Women | Our Daily Show Interview
GODFREY/ALTON - Two Riverbend staples are partnering to build up the next generation of nurses.
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Vitality Women’s Clinic regularly welcomes nursing students from CALC Institute of Technology to shadow nurses and learn more about patient care. Jackie Duty, Vitality’s executive director, highlighted the value of engaging with students and bringing these generations together to provide care for individuals experiencing unplanned pregnancies.
“You can see that really cool collaboration and the connection between the older nurses and the younger nurses. It just gets really exciting to watch,” Duty said. “When you’re getting started with the next generation, there’s a passion and a fire. I feel like as we get older, we start to lose some of that passion. So when you encounter and you get to invest time in leading and training the next generation, it refuels that fire. It takes you back to that place where you started.”
Godfrey’s Vitality Women’s Clinic is a pro-life, faith-based pregnancy center. They offer free ultrasounds and pregnancy and STI testing, as well as a resource shop, parenting classes, support groups and counseling. They do not provide or refer for abortions.
CALC, located in Alton, has several career pathways available, but their nursing program is especially popular. Students gain hands-on experience caring for patients.
Kyle, the CEO, noted that the nursing students are passionate about their work. He works one-on-one with students to help them through their schooling. He encourages them to “remember your why.”
“Whenever somebody chose nursing, you felt a personal alignment. However you look at it, compassion, empathy, sympathy, you felt something that connected you. And I’m here to explore that and go down to the depths,” he explained.
Kyle added that CALC has coordinators who work with students to develop “student success plans.” These plans aim to help students manage childcare, transportation, or other barriers to their education.
CALC is dedicated to helping their students succeed. The organization hopes to graduate professionals who can build careers in their chosen fields.
“We are trying to build a future of leaders,” Kyle said. “My whole goal was to just be the change. We operate on the lighthouse theory. I like to be the light for all to see. We really emanate with those that are feeling dark, displaced. Let us be the ones that pull you in.”
The partnership with Vitality has been beneficial for both organizations. Duty shared that one CALC student told her that she had been a patient at Vitality 20 years previously, and now she was shadowing a nurse at the clinic. These “full-circle moments” mean a lot to Vitality.
Kyle is also glad his students have the opportunity to work with patients in “a moment of crisis” at Vitality. It’s a powerful chance to learn more about nursing and help people in need.
“It’s honestly a privilege,” he said. “This is just a really good experience for not only our nurses, but they’re getting real-life experience to say, what are you going through? It’s not just textbook. It’s more like, now I actually have to regulate that she’s grieving this situation and I’m witnessing this. It really gets you prepared for some of the hardest conversations and depictions of nursing and overall just human engagement.”
Duty added that the community has “some really cool synergies that are happening,” and she expects partnerships like this to only grow in the coming years. She hopes Vitality can be a major part of these conversations going forward.
For more information about Vitality Women’s Clinic, including how to make an appointment, visit their official website. To support Vitality, check out their official ambassador’s website. For more about CALC Institute of Technology, visit their official website.
This featured article is sponsored by Vitality Women's Clinic. To get your business or organization featured on www.RiverBender.com, contact us at sales@riverbender.com.
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