Caroline Jennings has been a leader at URI, and was named the College of Nursing Academic Excellence Award recipient
Caroline Jennings was just a sophomore in high school when she was diagnosed with a serious abdominal condition that required surgery. Frightened by a major operation and unsure of the ultimate outcome, Jennings found comfort and solace in the medical professionals working on her case, particularly those most responsible for a patient’s day-to-day care.
“The doctors are a vital part of a hospital stay, but it was really the strength and the compassion of the nurses that let me know I was going to be OK,” Jennings said. “Nurses have that gentle touch and positivity and inspiration, and they were the ones who I left the hospital remembering most. I admired the care and compassion of the nurses, and I realized that I wanted to be that person on the other side of the bed that someone could look up to. That’s when I decided I wanted to become a nurse.”
She didn’t have far to look to find advice and inspiration. Nursing has become something of a tradition in the Oradell, New Jersey, native’s family. In addition to her mother, four of Jennings’ aunts are nurses, and two of her three sisters are also in the profession.
“I was always surrounded by that mentorship and nursing exposure,” said Jennings, who will now join the family business as she graduates from the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing in May. “But it wasn’t until that pivotal moment in my life when I was hospitalized that I knew I wanted to be a nurse.”
Within a year, Jennings was planning for her career, researching universities and planning campus tours. After hearing from older students about their experiences at URI and seeing photos of the Kingston Campus, Jennings looked further into the highly competitive URI College of Nursing, which is ranked 67th out of 656 qualifying undergraduate nursing schools in the country, to go with a top 50 ranking among master’s programs, and a 66th ranking among Doctor of Nursing Practice programs.
“I fell in love with URI after my first tour here as a junior in high school, and ever since then I couldn’t imagine myself attending another university,” Jennings said. “I thought the campus was beautiful and the location near the coastline is a perfect complement to the highly competitive nursing program. Finding out URI had a very high pass rate for the nursing boards (98 percent), I knew that once I completed the program, I would be fully prepared to enter the professional world of nursing.”
Jennings threw herself into her work during her four years at URI, serving as a simulation lab assistant in White Hall, junior leader for the URI chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, administrative director of Alpha Xi Delta, and a leader in multiple service projects for the sorority, including children’s book drives for new mothers, Toys for Tots collections during the holiday season, and fundraisers for children’s hospitals. In April, she capped off a successful college career by being named the College of Nursing’s Academic Excellence Award recipient.
“I was so honored and privileged to receive that award,” Jennings said. “I worked very hard these four years; I feel like I’m a very driven student. The hard work does pay off. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. It’s an honor to receive that award in such a competitive nursing program.”
Among the most valuable aspects of the College’s educational plan is its emphasis on clinical experience, Jennings said. URI nursing students begin their clinical rotations in their sophomore year, earlier than many other institutions, giving Rhody students a leg up on experience among their peers. Jennings served rotations at Rhode Island Hospital, Fatima Hospital, Women & Infants Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, and Coventry Middle School. She also worked at Miriam Hospital for her clinical immersion, in which students are paired one-on-one with a clinical preceptor.
“URI stood out to me because it offered clinical rotations earlier than other nursing schools, which helps build that foundation,” Jennings said. “I think the hands-on experience is really important, and the earlier you’re thrown in, the more experience you get. I’m incredibly grateful for the clinical immersion with the one-on-one preceptor working 12 hours a day with them. Other universities don’t provide that for their nursing programs. It really ties it all together as you become a senior, and you’re ready to enter the professional world after that experience with a preceptor.”
Providing that experience and passing on knowledge like her URI mentors professors Marie Berry and Sandra Basley did for her is in Jennings’ plans for the future, either as a preceptor or after going back to school for her master’s degree and becoming a professor.
For now, her immediate career as a registered nurse is directed by an externship she did in her native New Jersey last summer working with oncology patients, specifically in the stem cell transplant department. She has applied for a position as an RN at a hospital in New York City.
“I worked with oncology patients and their families, and they’re at such vulnerable moments in their life, that being there to care for them during those moments is what I value as a nurse,” said Jennings, noting her time at URI gave her the experience and confidence she needs. “There were four key elements I wanted to develop and achieve during my college experience: scholarship, leadership, service and character. I feel I fulfilled those all in my four years here. I’ve strived to work my hardest to prepare for my nursing career and dedicated myself to my studies. Over the past four years, I’ve really grown on a personal and professional level.”