More than 100 rising seniors from the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing are preparing to begin their participation in the UC Nursing co-op program, according to a May 14 announcement. The students will be placed at several leading healthcare institutions across Cincinnati, including UC Medical Center, UC West Chester Hospital, and multiple campuses of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
The program is significant as it provides undergraduate nursing students with hands-on experience in various clinical specialties. These include intensive care, women’s health, emergency medicine, acute medical-surgical care, operating room practice, mental health services, cardiac specialties, neonatal intensive care unit work, dialysis centers, urgent care clinics, and cancer treatment facilities.
“Across the placement sites, students will gain firsthand experience in environments that represent some of the most challenging and rewarding corners of clinical nursing,” said Deborah Schwytzer, DNP, RN-BC, CEN and director of the nursing co-op program. “Many students enter the co-op with a specialty in mind and leave with their calling confirmed. Others discover an unexpected passion that reshapes their career path entirely.”
The university reports that its cooperative education model was established in 1906 and has grown into one of the largest experience-based learning programs globally. For nursing students specifically, this means over 500 hours of additional clinical practice through paid mentorships with experienced nurses at major healthcare institutions.
“Our co-op program works because of the strength of our partnerships with local health systems,” Schwytzer said. “The program’s most measurable outcome is student readiness, which is confirmed by the number of job offers students get from their placement sites even before they graduate.”
The new cohort’s participation marks another step in integrating practical experience into undergraduate education for future nurses.