Tina Li
Hi everyone, I’m Tina Li and I am a senior nursing student at Decker in the traditional nursing program. Over winter break, I had the opportunity to attend several Employer Treks hosted by Decker at various hospitals in the downstate area. The NYC Connect Employer Treks are a great way to learn about nursing opportunities offered by different hospitals and also allow you as a student to interact with employees at these hospitals and observe their cultures. One of the NYC Connect Employer Treks I attended was at Bellevue Hospital, located in Manhattan.
Bellevue Hospital is the oldest hospital in the United States and is part of the New York City Health and Hospitals system, which is the public health system in New York that comprises 70+ locations. One thing to note about Bellevue is that they are a safety net hospital, meaning that all patients are treated regardless of their ability to pay. Bellevue offers a wide variety of services to patients and during the trek, we were given the opportunity to learn about and tour the psychiatric, ICU, ambulatory care, and emergency departments. Bellevue has a robust behavioral health department, including child and adolescent psychiatry divisions, and is also known for being a level one trauma center.
The Employer Trek started with an information session led by one of Bellevue’s recruiters, Anthony Liberti. During this session, we learned about the nurse residency program offered to new grad nurses, the benefits of working for a public hospital, as well as programs at Bellevue designed to support nursing career advancement. For juniors who are seeking a summer externship, Bellevue does not offer one but does offer non-paid summer positions as patient care associates. Some notable insights about a career at Bellevue are a pension plan, the NYC H+H Leadership Academy for nurses looking to enter leadership roles, and the NYC H+H Continuing Professional Education Program for nurses seeking higher education.
After the information session, the Directors of Nursing for various departments gave us a tour of their units. During these tours, we were able to speak directly with nursing leadership to learn more about their units and ask questions, which is something that I think makes the Employer Treks valuable as you can connect with experienced nurses to gain insight about various career topics. One thing that stood out to me from the tours was seeing how involved the Directors of Nursing were with their staff. It was clear that each director was passionate about their specialty and had goals they wanted to accomplish by working directly with their nurses to see how they could improve to meet patient needs. Bellevue is truly a hospital that works to serve patients from all backgrounds and I am grateful I got to see it firsthand through this Employer Trek.
Overall, I would encourage all interested nursing students to attend the NYC Connect Employer Treks. The treks are special opportunities to speak and connect with nurses, recruiters, and leadership at hospitals you may want to work at post-graduation. Some advice for anyone interested in the Employer Treks would be to bring a pen, small notebook, and copies of your resume. During winter break prior to the treks, I had my resume reviewed by the Fleishman Center and found it helpful to have another set of eyes evaluating my resume. During the treks, lots of information gets shared so having a small notebook to take notes is helpful. Happy connecting to all nursing students who attend the NYC Connect Employer Treks! For any questions, feel free to reach out to the Decker Division of Advising and Academic Excellence.
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