Erin Purcell ’24

CLINICAL LOCATIONS: Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Oncology unit; St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, MedicalSurgical Rotation

For career inspiration, Erin looked no further than her family of first responders and their calling to “help people on their worst days.” Since joining the Emmanuel community, she’s helped to shape the culture of the School of Nursing as president of the brand new Students of Nursing Club. In this role, she serves as a resource to her classmates, and also helps them make connections with peers and potential employers. In turn, she’s found her professors have been more than willing to do their part to help her succeed.

While Erin has been able to successfully translate the skills learned in Emmanuel’s nursing labs to her clinical rotations, the most valuable lessons she has honed working with patients center on communication and understanding. “Working with patients who may be going through emotional experiences, or have gone through them in the past, has truly taught me you never know what your patient has experienced or is experiencing,” she says.

As a nursing student, you will launch into your nursing coursework as early as your first semester, with a first-year nursing seminar that will assist you in acquiring the essential skills, techniques and behaviors that will lead to success as a student, a lifelong learner and a beginning member of the nursing profession. You’ll have access to nursing faculty right away and will also be guided by both an academic advisor and a nursing faculty advisor—resources that will set you up for a meaningful and rewarding journey.

The Joanne DiGeronimo Migliaro and Anthony Migliaro Nursing Skills Laboratory simulates a real clinical setting, giving you the chance to practice a range of skills such as medication administration, sterile technique, IV therapy, and tracheostomy/nasogastric care safely.

The labs host state-of-the-art equipment including Omnicell, IV pumps, medication carts, blood pressure cuffs, enteral feeding pumps, stretchers and vital sign machines.

The School’s simulation laboratories allow faculty to control fast-paced patient scenarios and observe and guide students in real time.