By: Kortney Marshall
BSN Class of 2017

I was hopeful when I applied to the Mayo Clinic Summer III Externship in Rochester, MN in October of 2015. I knew there would be a lot of amazing applicants from around the country, and I knew there was about a 5% chance I would get in. Over 1,000 people applied to be in this position, but only 53 were accepted. I spent the next few months waiting anxiously for the application process to be completed. In March of 2016, I received the greatest email I could have ever asked for – my acceptance into Mayo Clinic. This was a real dream coming true and I could not have been more excited.

Housing arrangements were made for me and the other externs on Crossroad College campus. I knew my 52 new coworkers would be exceptional people, but I never expected to form such close bonds and to have one of the best summers of my life. On top of learning from amazing nurses at the number one hospital in the country, we spent our summer exploring Minnesota and making lifelong friends.

I was placed on the Orthopedic Trauma unit at the St. Mary’s campus of Mayo Clinic. This is a unit that specializes in the care of the patient after a traumatic orthopedic incident that ultimately results in a long-term alteration in their lifestyle. I was assigned to a clinical coach each day and worked alongside them with their patient assignments. Here I learned how to effectively manage three patients and how to manage my time appropriately to get all of the needs of the patient met. I have also learned how to successfully do hand-off reports as well as discharge teaching and helping with lifestyle adjustments with patients from all different ages and backgrounds.

I also had the opportunity to float and observe on other floors of the hospital to gain experience in other units. I was given the chance to observe a kidney transplant surgery from donor to recipient and care for the patient afterward in the post anesthesia recovery unit. I also spent a day on the mood disorders psychiatric floor learning about a completely different side of nursing. I worked in the surgical trauma ICU one day, the neurological unit, the ventilator and lung transplant floor, as well as a medical and an ENT unit. Additionally, I spent one day touring the emergency department and the helicopter Mayo One where I learned about flight nursing.

During my time at Mayo, I was able to communicate with other members of the healthcare team and actively participated in the collaborative care needed for each individual situation. I learned how to remain calm in difficult situations and what to do under pressure. My nursing education from Bellin College gave me the knowledge and capability I needed to prepare me for this learning experience. I had plenty of clinical and skills lab hours leading up to this summer that made me feel self-assured and ready for whatever challenges would come my way at Mayo Clinic. This externship made me feel truly confident about the care that I am giving and I am beginning to feel like a nurse in every sense of the word.

Many of the patients I have cared for have had their lives seriously impacted in some way, enough so that they travel from all over the world to Mayo Clinic in search of hope and healing, sometimes even looking for a last sense of hope. I cared for patients with shattered bones and broken backs. I have seen victims of horrific farming and firework incidents as well as serious motor vehicle accidents and gunshot wounds. I have had patients dealing with new amputations and cancer of all kinds. Some of my patients were waiting desperately for lung transplants and some were recovering from heart transplants. I was the nurse for patients with bipolar disorders, strokes, and patients in comas and some in catatonic states. I also cared for patients that overdosed, those that attempted suicide and some that were dealing with postpartum psychosis. All walks of life come through the doors of Mayo and I was given the opportunity to care for a wide variety of them.

I’ve seen psychotic breaks and deep depression that I did not fully understand until seeing it first hand. I have been there when some patients have received the best news of their lives and some that received the worst. I have laughed with patients, I have cried with them, and after all that I have learned, it is hard to believe I was only at Mayo Clinic for 10 weeks. I will never forget the experiences I had there and the amazing people I met along the way.