Nursing is a hands-on profession. It makes sense, then, that nursing school requires a hands-on education.
And for Cody Rieffer, who is part of the first graduating class of NAU’s College of Nursing, having those hands-on experiences through the state-of-the-art Nursing Simulation Lab and from professors with long careers in the field made all the difference as he prepares to enter the workforce.
“There’s a saying that nursing school prepares you to take the NCLEX and then your first nursing job prepares you to be a nurse, but I really do feel that my education at NAU has gone above and beyond to prepare me to be a nurse as well as prepare me for the national exam,” said Rieffer, who is from Tucson. “NAU’s program does a great job of making sure that you get lots of clinical hours, and with the new nursing sim lab, there’s a lot of opportunity for skills practice.”
On Friday, 153 graduates will take their next step toward becoming nurses, many in Arizona as NAU helps tackle the critical shortage of healthcare providers in the state. Rieffer is excited for the next step on his journey—a journey he didn’t anticipate being on for much of his life. Nursing was plan C or D for the nontraditional student.
How it started
After graduating from high school, Rieffer enrolled in an engineering program at the University of Arizona. After a year, however, he realized he wasn’t interested in engineering, so he started taking classes at Pima Community College to see what industry would be a better fit. He enjoyed biology and chemistry and started thinking about something in healthcare.
Nursing still wasn’t on his radar yet, though. Back at UA, he started a degree in molecular and cellular biology with the goal of becoming a medical researcher. Then life happened.
“I got sick and ended up in the hospital before starting my senior year, and at the same time, my health insurance expired,” he said. “During this time, I saw nurses at work, and it really piqued my interest as a possible career because, to be honest, I’ve never liked sitting still at a job, and although spending all that time in a lab setting is interesting, I certainly had my doubts as to whether or not it would be something I would enjoy long-term.”
Rieffer couldn’t just jump into his newfound career goal. He couldn’t afford tuition and medical bills, so he took another hiatus from school, became a restaurant manager and saved as much money as he could. Eventually, he enrolled in nursing school at NAU.
How it’s going
In a word: good. In seven words: “Every semester was better than the last.” Rieffer felt supported by the faculty, he felt listened to, he found colleagues within his cohort and he was prepared to go work with patients during clinical hours.
The professors were always checking to make sure students had a solid grasp of the material and frequently scheduled extra review time or more time in the sim lab. They answered questions based on their experiences and pulled in nurses from Flagstaff Medical Center to share their expertise as well. One day, Rieffer recalled, a classmate voiced that they wanted extra practice in code situations (essentially, when a patient’s heart stops). The professor set up a full day in the simulation lab focusing on codes, giving students practice and offering immediate feedback.
It hasn’t been an easy few years, of course. Nursing school isn’t just classwork; the students have required clinical hours, many of which require travel and keeping a close eye on changing dates, times and locations, plus Rieffer had a part-time job. Time management was a skill he had to learn on top of all the medical skills, as was flexibility—clinical rotations could change at the last minute if a facility needed to adjust, so the students had to be able to adjust on the fly. It was challenging, he acknowledged.
Having supportive faculty helped in this regard as well, Rieffer said. The faculty shared their phone numbers, they made clear that they were available to discuss issues, both nursing and life, with students, and they were flexible, even adjusting curricula when Rieffer’s cohort shared struggles they were having. Even as faculty adjusted to the change from school to college, they kept the student experience front and center.
“It almost makes me wish I had started the program later, but I am very excited to be a part of the first graduating class of the College of Nursing and to finally graduate from college in general,” Rieffer said.
After graduation, he will spend the next several weeks preparing for the NCLEX. In February, he also will start his job at Flagstaff Medical Center as a nurse resident in the Cardiovascular ICU.
Heidi Toth | NAU Communications
(928) 523-8737 | heidi.toth@nau.edu