It was a moment that Lauren Wight ’23, ’26 MSN won’t forget. The nursing student from the University of St. Thomas was conducting a focused head-to-toe-assessment of a patient at the Minnesota Masonic Home in Bloomington, Minnesota. At first, the routine assessment appeared to be just that: routine. But when the patient’s vital signs began to deteriorate rapidly, everything changed.
For Wight, who was on-site as part of a nursing clinical placement, it was her first chance to assess and prioritize the needs of a patient experiencing a real-life medical emergency.
“This was a prime example of how clinicals are not a controlled environment. The stakes are extremely high,” Wight said.
As the patient’s condition changed, Wight and her clinical instructor – who was in the room supervising – alerted the care team and ensured the patient received the emergent care they needed.
“When these kinds of situations arise, we really depend on the critical thinking skills that we’ve learned at St. Thomas,” said Wight, who is pursuing an entry-level Master of Science in nursing.
Every shift is a lesson
At the Susan S. Morrison School of Nursing at St. Thomas, clinical placements play a vital role in a student’s educational experience. It’s where Tommies apply what they’ve learned in the classroom and the simulation lab to real-world settings.
Each semester, small groups of students, supervised by experienced registered nurses, leave campus to spend shifts working and learning in dozens of clinical settings. Students assist new mothers, assess patients with schizophrenia, practice clinical judgment for hospitalized children and comfort family members in times of need. They go on walks with transitional care patients, take medical histories, and administer injections.
“Every day there’s something new,” said Duncan Sprengel ’26, who recently completed clinical rotations at the Minnesota Masonic Home and the Mother Baby Center at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids. “There’s zero doubt about it, working face to face with a patient – no matter what stage of life – nothing can replace that kind of experience.”
Sprengel, a bachelor’s nursing student, has worked closely with the School of Nursing to schedule clinical placements around his busy campus schedule. He’s enjoyed rocking newborns to sleep and coaching older individuals working to regain their mobility.
“Every single interaction you have to make them the center of attention, because you really need to treat each patient how you wish you’d be treated or how your own family member would be treated,” Sprengel said.
On the front lines of care
When the Susan S. Morrison School of Nursing opened its doors in 2022, it did so with a unique mission: to prepare highly skilled nurses who are culturally responsive and to proactively improve whole-person healing. One of the easiest ways to see that mission come to life is through the school’s clinical partnerships.
Beyond traditional acute care placements in hospitals, future Tommie nurses also complete many clinical hours in community and public health settings. This can include health promotion lessons for preschoolers, caring for hospice patients, and time in a variety of other settings from government agencies to assisted living facilities.
“Looking at a wide variety of practice settings makes our program really unique for students to be able to see there are other ways to be a nurse than just working in the acute care setting,” Clinical Nursing Faculty Dr. Lisa Shields said.
Shields recently worked with a group of master’s degree students in the long-term care unit at the Minnesota Masonic Home, one of the school’s newest clinical partners.
“We have a tremendous aging population in our state and throughout the country, and it is imperative that our nurses are prepared to meet that population’s needs,” Shields said. “We teach our students to really look at the whole person, and that’s especially important when treating a patient in an environment where they are residing and where they call home.”
At its new nursing school, the Morrison Family College of Health is working to develop strong, sustainable relationships with clinical partners, which include Allina Health, HealthPartners, Children’s Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, Essentia Healthcare, Hennepin Healthcare and many more. In addition to helping educate students, partners give students a sense of what it would be like to work in different fields after graduation.
“Minnesota Masonic Home is thrilled about this partnership with St. Thomas, primarily because we believe that nursing is more than just a job – it’s about building lasting relationships with residents and their families,” Minnesota Masonic Home Administrator Alex Lee said. “Our nurses have the unique opportunity to truly get to know the people they care for and become part of their daily lives.”
Guided by experience
At St. Thomas, the nursing curriculum intentionally blends classroom, lab, simulation and facility learning experiences. Students learn about pharmacology and disease processes in the classroom. They learn how to start IVs, insert catheters, take blood pressure, and more in the lab. And down the hall in the Susan S. Morrison Center for Simulation, students work through clinical scenarios with high-fidelity equipment in a controlled environment.
As nursing students take the next step in their journey, fanning out for clinical placements off-campus, faculty are right there with them. School of Nursing Director Dr. Annette Hines believes it’s a critical piece of the puzzle.
“To this day, I still remember when I gave my first injection to a patient,” Hines said of her own training to become a nurse. “And, as I gave that injection, I remember how my faculty member was there, watching my movements, and anticipating if I needed any help with executing the skill. My instructor had confidence in my ability but was also there to help if needed.”
At St. Thomas, faculty in the classroom sometimes move with their students directly into clinical placements. The School of Nursing also hires seasoned RN instructors to accompany groups of six to eight students on-site. The process is designed to ensure Tommies receive one-on-one mentorship as they make the transition to providing care to patients in their communities.
“We’re so blessed to be building a group of nursing educators that understand our curriculum, that understand our focus on health equity and whole-person care,” Hines said. “We cannot understate the impact that our instructors have on our students.”
Training that touches lives
When future Tommie nurses graduate, they will leave St. Thomas with more than 500 clinical hours, a mix of real-world placements and time in simulation. It’s already proven to be a winning combination. In 2024, 100% of the school’s first graduating class passed the NCLEX-RN® licensure exam.
Lexi Aagenes ’26 applied to the St. Thomas program for its rigorous hands-on experience and commitment to whole-person health.
“I have a strong love of science, but I was drawn to nursing because at its core, it's about providing care,” Aagenes said. “Nursing is such a special job because it combines your knowledge of the human body, and your ability to help people.”
Aagenes’ clinical rotations this past year included placements at a birth center, cardiac and psychiatric units and the Minnesota Masonic Home.
“One of the most memorable moments: I had a patient in long-term care who I was able to spend time getting to know, and they expressed how much they appreciated having someone sit and talk with them through the most vulnerable parts of their life,” Aagenes said. “That communication, that empathy, is what I hope to bring to my position as a nurse.”
