The Fairfield students were among 33 nationwide to be selected for this year's oncology nursing Flynn Fellows program.
Senior nursing students Carissa Corraro ’19, Brittany Fasanelli ’19, and Emily Etchegary ’19 participated in the Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Fellowship Program at Greenwich and Stamford Hospitals in Connecticut.
In memory of his late wife, Susan, who succumbed to ovarian cancer, Fred Flynn launched the program in 2014. The Egan School was one of the first nursing programs to participate in the fellowship. The highly competitive program selects rising seniors from the top nursing schools in the country with the aim of providing them with comprehensive clinical exposure to oncology nursing and the "best practices" in compassion.
During the eight-week program at Greenwich Hospital, the students shadowed seasoned nurses and served as integral hands-on members of the cancer care team. The program provided students with experience in medical and surgical oncology, clinical research and trials, chemotherapy, infusion services, radiation therapy, palliative care, hospice services, and patient and family support. Additionally, each student completed and presented an evidence-based research project to improve care in an oncology setting at the conclusion of the fellowship.
“What I learned most from the fellowship is the importance of communication between each of the major components that make up comprehensive care for an oncology patient,” stated Corraro. “With this solid communication, care can be completed in a way that is best for the patient. I also learned how to provide therapeutic communication to families and patients at times that are most often very difficult, which will help me throughout my nursing career.”
The students were able to apply the skills learned at the Egan School while gaining new knowledge from the health care teams they shadowed.
“Through this fellowship, I was able to apply my nursing school knowledge to a real-life hospital setting, which has helped me to decipher my strengths and weaknesses as a nurse,” observed Corraro. “I have become an advocate for my patients as well as someone they can trust in such trying and difficult times in their lives."
The experience gained during this fellowship helped the students solidify their post-Fairfield plans. “The fellowship rotated us through all the different units of oncology, which ultimately helped solidify my decision to become an oncology nurse,” said Fasanelli. “Having the opportunity to just experience what an oncology nurse does helped me figure out what I wanted to do after nursing school, and I cannot thank Fred Flynn enough for that!”
