LEBANON  - On July 29, 50 high school students from across Middle Tennessee caught a glimpse into everyday tasks Registered Nurses perform during Cumberland University’s first annual Heartbeat Heroes Nursing Camp. 

Students spent the day meeting current nursing students and faculty, touring facilities– including the university’s Living and Learning Community for nursing students, 4South– and gaining hands-on experience under the guidance of Cumberland faculty in simulation lab activities with high-fidelity healthcare manikins where they practiced inserting IVs, administering medications and CPR. Cumberland increased its original offering of 40 positions in the camp to the maximum capacity amount of 50 due to a large influx of students interested in attending.

Healthcare has adopted immersive learning as a beneficial training tactic. Experiential learning allows students the opportunity to ask questions, develop problem solving skills, retain information, and make mistakes in a low-risk environment. 

Senior Cumberland nursing student Carol Anne Clanton spearheaded this event with the support of the Dean of the Rudy School and other faculty.

“I started Heartbeat Heroes Nursing Camp as an outreach opportunity for local high schoolers to learn more about the field of nursing and determine if it's the right path for them,” said Clanton, who attributes a similar event she attended at another university in 2018 to her decision to become a nurse. “Nursing Camp cultivates the next generation of nurses by giving these students the chance to practice different skills and physical assessments as they discover exactly what it means to be a nurse. I'm so thankful for all the support from my nursing faculty and classmates who made this vision a reality!”

“Every day as a nurse is different and challenging based on different patients and their varying health conditions. We hope this camp gave high school students insight into the impact they can have on other people’s quality of life, encouraging them to take the next step in their educational journey by choosing to attend Cumberland’s Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions,” said Dr. Mary Bess Griffith, Dean of the Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions.

To learn more about the Rudy School, visit https://www.cumberland.edu/rudy-school-of-nursing-and-health-professions/. 

About Cumberland University:

For over 182 years, Cumberland University has been advancing its long tradition of excellence to rise, endure, prosper and illuminate the world. Recognized as one of the fastest-growing liberal arts universities in the state of Tennessee, Cumberland continues to evolve to meet the needs of a diverse and expanding community while providing a transformational higher education experience through more than 80 accredited academic programs of study at the Associate, Baccalaureate and Master’s levels.