From intern to nurse: a full circle moment

RICE LAKE, Wis. (WEAU) - National Nurses Week continues across the nation. For one hospital in Western Wisconsin, attracting nurses to the medical field starts in high school.

Jenna Robach was a teenager when she got her first look at all a career in nursing has to offer.

Her mom helped create an internship program at Marshfield Medical Clinic in Rice lake. After an interview process, Jenna quickly discovered she had the utmost respect for nurses and all they do.

In 2012, Robach was one of the first eight students selected for the Rice Lake High School Internship Program at Marshfield Clinic. The program allows two students each term throughout the school year to experience different areas of the medical field from surgery, to pharmacy, to nursing.

Ten years later, this February she graduated with her Bachelors Degree in Nursing and in March she stepped back through those hospital doors again.

“Jenna was our first intern, but now she is the first that has come full circle and is employed here at the hospital so we are really thrilled about that,” said Tammy Koger, volunteer services manager for Marshfield Clinic in Rice Lake.

“I knew I wanted to be with the patient and I think that’s one thing that really drew me to nursing was because you get to really be that patient advocate,” Jenna explained. “You’re there for the patient, you’re hands on and you’re involved in every step of the process so that was one thing that I really liked. I knew that I wanted to be very closely attached to the patient.”

Robach works in surgical services in the operating room.

As for the internship program, organizers say it’s a great chance for observation experience and for students to interact with staff. Marshfield is currently narrowing down 13 applicants for the eight spots next school year.

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