Nursing Students Participate in IBX Nursing Internship Program

GMercyU Nursing students Nupur Raval and Shannon O’Day participated in the Independence Blue Cross (IBX) Foundation Nursing Internship Program this past summer. As part of the program, they attended a speaker series and worked as interns at VNA-Community Services. They also completed a research project as part of the program.

Nupur and Shannon first heard of the internship in class when a fellow Griffin and previous intern shared her positive experience with the class. Quickly after the class, Nupur and Shannon applied and successfully completed an interview.

During the program, Nupur and Shannon applied their clinical skills in real-world settings at VNA Family Health Center. Nupur primarily worked with pediatric patients and underserved populations, assisting with well visits, sick visits, vaccinations, and routine procedures like hemoglobin and lead tests. Additionally, she practiced her documentation skills after each patient encounter.

For her research, Nupur chose the topic Promoting Wellness: The Impact of Nurses in Childhood Obesity Prevention. She chose this topic since childhood obesity is such a critical public health issue, affecting 1 in 5 children in the United States, and nurses are in a unique position to address this problem through education, support, and intervention. Nurses also play a critical role in promoting healthy habits and preventing obesity.

“Exploring this topic allowed me to examine how nursing practices can be optimized to combat this growing concern and improve children’s overall health,” Nupur said. “This [internship] experience emphasized the value of actively pursuing opportunities to enhance skills and contribute meaningfully. I learned to always take such chances in my nursing career. Being an IBX Nurse Intern also deepened my love for making a difference in people’s lives.”