Decker School of Nursing alumni Yvan Fortunat '08 and Diana Motti '09 were among eighteen honored in September by the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) for completing a nine-month home health care nursing internship designed especially for new nurse graduates.
The VNSNY internship assists new RNs as they transition into the role of home health care nurse. The program provides support and guidance to ensure success of internship candidates. Given individual clinical training and professional development from experienced VNSNY staff nurses and clinical advisers, interns complete the program and move into staff nurse positions with a strong understanding of home health care nursing, having learned how to meet the complex needs of patients in the home health care setting. Fortunat interned with VNSNY's Brooklyn Acute Program and Motti with Manhattan Visiting MD Program.
Fortunat had earned a bachelor's degree in biology at Binghamton University before earning a bachelor's of nursing degree from the Decker School of Nursing some time later. His experience teaching science to developmentally disabled kids at a middle school for a year after earning the biology degree gave rise to similarities he found between teaching and home health nursing care he provided to patients during the VNSNY internship.
"In a home care setting, there are so many opportunities to teach. You need to be able to show your patient how to take their medication and why it is so important in managing their disease." Fortunat said he will "definitely" stay in home health care and may one day seek a role in nursing education.
Motti's initial exposure to home health care nursing was a result of completing a community health rotation in rural Pennsylvania when a Decker School undergraduate. She found her VNSNY internship experience with the Manhattan Visiting MD Program to be unique.
"The doctors have a special understanding about community health nursing. They take into consideration your observations and clinical assessments of patients. It is definitely a team approach," she said. The experience allowed Motti to trust her instincts, improve her nursing skills, and gain confidence working as a home health care nurse.
