Nursing & Health Sciences graduates ready for next step
Soon-to-be graduates of Auburn University at Montgomery’s College of Nursing & Health Sciences credit their clinical and lab experiences, as well as apprenticeship programs with local hospitals, for the career opportunities awaiting them after the university’s May 10 commencement ceremonies.
Nursing major Michael Shalayda, has already accepted a position at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, said AUM’s faculty have played a vital role in helping to prepare him for the job market. Graduates of AUM’s nursing program often find that their knowledge and skills are in high demand as healthcare providers struggle with personnel shortages and high patient-to-staff ratios. In Alabama, an estimated 20 percent of nursing positions are unfilled.
“They do a lot of the licensure exam preparation,” Shalayda said of the AUM program. “I’ve seen it through my work and my clinical experience. I’ve gradually become a much more qualified and well-equipped nurse through the years that I’ve spent here.”
Nursing major Alexis Faust, who will soon begin her career as a registered nurse at Montgomery’s Jackson Hospital, derived tremendous value from the college’s apprenticeship program. Launched by the College of Nursing & Health Sciences in December 2023, the apprenticeship program helps AUM nursing students earn salaries while learning through their work at Baptist Health – Central Alabama and Jackson Hospital. The program is administered through partnerships with the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship and the Alabama Board of Nursing. AUM nursing students are eligible to apply for the program in their second semester in the nursing program. When a student is selected and placed at a partner healthcare facility, they work directly with a professional mentor.
The apprentices may work for up to 24 hours per week, with hours involving paid work, paid clinical experiences, or a combination of each.
“They’ve definitely prepared me through the clinicals that we were having before joining the apprenticeship program,” Faust said. “Those have definitely prepared me, and also just in the lab through all the skills that they’ve taught us and simulations that they have provided us.”
