Alyssa Bock chose her career path early – as well as the college that would help to get her there the quickest and with the best training.
The result? Bock was hired at an area hospital before graduating in two years from the college of her choice, Gateway Technical College, and passed her state nursing license exam a week after her graduation.
The fourth-generation nurse works in an obstetrics unit and points to Gateway’s hands-on learning and high standards as the tools which helped her to successfully enter her career.
“Without Gateway, I would still be in college, have racked up a lot of debt and still not have reached my career goals. Gateway helped me to reach my goal of entering my career in the quickest and most efficient way possible – while also giving me the skills to flourish as a nurse,” says Bock.
Bock says college’s focus on hands-on learning and clinical experience work in tandem to prepare students for the real world they will soon face in their career.
“Gateway helps you to develop your skills under pressure,” says Bock. “You need to be able to think critically and under pressure as a nurse, and Gateway’s hands-on learning and training helps you to do that.
“You can only learn how to think critically and under pressure if you practice to do it. Gateway provided that to me.”
The clinical experience splits into time spent working at an area health care facility and in one of Gateway’s virtual simulation labs.
“We not only were able to work with real patients during our clinicals, but we were also able to gain knowledge through the human-patient simulators at Gateway.
“The simulators allowed us to train on those situations where we would be working with scenarios of the sickest of patients, opportunities you wouldn’t have access to during your clinicals.”
Bock says Gateway also helps its students succeed through resources such as tutoring, success counselors and workshops on such topics as time management and resume writing.
“Another resource is the Inspire Center on the Kenosha Campus, where the simulators, simulated patient rooms and other tools are available. Those are training tools that a lot of nursing schools just don’t have.”