From the Classroom to the Operating Room
St. Luke’s, Prairie View Prepare Future Nurses

The first time Prairie View A&M senior Sherrie Flakes helped a patient through surgery, she knew what she suspected was true – she was meant to be an operating room nurse.

It was the summer of 2000 when Flakes entered the operating room as part of a new, elective course offered by Prairie View A&M University’s College of Nursing through St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital.

She soon realized that operating room nurses play a huge role in ensuring that the surgical experience for a patient is as positive as possible.

"You’re checking on lab work, reassuring the patient, assisting the anesthesiologist, passing instruments to the surgeon, checking on the number of instruments and sponges, and making sure the patient is comfortable on the table. You’re an advocate for the patient, and I love that responsibility," Flakes said.

Darlena Stevens, vice president of perioperative services, created the program that began in 2000 with five Prairie View A&M students.

Laurie Mitchell, a nurse manager in cardiovascular/transplant services, headed the actual hands-on training of the group. What she teaches the students in a St. Luke’s classroom prepares them for the operating room.

"It’s an intense six weeks," said Mitchell. "But the students really seem to like it."

Flakes didn’t like it – she loved it.

"After taking the elective and doing the clinical rotation at St. Luke’s, I knew St. Luke’s was the place for me," she said. "Everyone really cares. It doesn’t surprise me at all that our nurses have earned the Magnet Award for excellence. They’re always looking out for the needs of the patients."

After graduation, the new registered nurse was hired full time in 2001 at St. Luke’s.

It is what Mitchell hoped would happen through the collaboration with Prairie View A&M.

"This is the kind of collaboration that will help us recruit new graduates to St. Luke’s," she said. "Sherrie has already come aboard and other students are currently going through the interview process. What we have is a win-win situation for students, St. Luke’s and our future patients. What could be better?"

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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