Up until a few years ago, all I knew about nurses was that they were nice people who worked in hospitals. Since I dislike nothing more than getting sick or injured, I actively avoided hospitals, and by extension most nurses.
That changed when Texas A&M University’s College of Nursing got in touch about filming a promotional video, one showing why nurses are awesome and, more importantly, why Aggie nurses are the absolute best.
Rachel and I are both Aggies, so of course we jumped at the chance to go back to College Station, eat tacos at Fuego, and make something for the College of Nursing.
Nurses In Training, Forensic Nurses, And One Helicopter
My fears about hospitals got set aside pretty quickly. We filmed nurses in training, forensic nurses, classes, and a flight nurse. Which means, you guessed it, I got to fly in a helicopter. Easily one of the coolest things I have ever done.
The flight nurse we interviewed had been nursing twelve years, eight in ICU, seven of those flying, and described it as absolutely the coolest job in the world. You come in in the morning and you have no idea what you’re going to see or where you’re going to end up. What struck me was that even doing the most dramatic version of the job, part of his mind was always on the unglamorous question underneath it: what if these patients had better primary care in the first place? That’s what pushed him toward A&M’s nurse practitioner program.
The Clinical Learning Resource Center
The faculty we talked to kept coming back to three things about the college: the faculty themselves, an NCLEX pass rate above the average both in Texas and nationally, and this place.
It’s a full simulation ward. High fidelity mannequins in real hospital beds with real equipment, and beyond that, standardized patients, which are actual people trained to behave the way a patient would. Students get to be wrong somewhere it doesn’t cost anything.
What Makes An Aggie Nurse
One of the things the dean did on arriving was interview every single faculty and staff member and ask them what an Aggie nurse actually is, and what makes one different. What came back was the Aggie core values, integrity and selfless service and excellence, and how neatly those line up with what the job asks of you anyway.
The other thing that came up over and over was why people got into it. One of them told us about being six or seven years old, playing at looking after a grandfather who was on hospice care with a toy stethoscope, and the moment he said he felt better because of it. That surge of having helped somebody just by paying attention is apparently what a career gets built on.
Throughout the whole shoot, the students impressed both of us with their character, their heart, and how much they knew. I’m not saying I want to visit a hospital any time soon. But if I do, I hope my nurse is an Aggie.
Need A Promo Video?
If you want something like this made for your organization, get in touch.