Thank you to our furry friends at SOUL Harbour Ranch Animal Therapy Program, Mane in Heaven Miniature Therapy Horses and Rainbow Animal Assisted Therapy for helping us celebrate our nurses with quality time and cuddles this Nurses Week! 🐴🐶❤️ (fb)

Advocate Health Care is investing in the future of health care by nurturing the next generation of professionals. Named after the three essential tools nurses traditionally carry—pen, watch, and scissors—the Penwasciz Health Careers Program at Advocate Condell Medical Center is an educational volunteer initiative offering high school students hands-on experience through weekly sessions. Topics include CPR training, surgery observation, simulation lab exercises and heart dissection. On April 28, 51 participants graduated from the seven-month program. Emily Vignocchi, a high school senior and Penwasciz participant, was inspired to pursue nursing after her grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Originally planning to major in dance, her experience witnessing the impact of nurses on her grandfather and family shifted her passion to health care. “I knew I wanted to go into nursing, but I wasn’t sure which specialty,” shared Emily, a high school senior and student in the Penwasciz Health Careers Program. “Being in a hospital setting and learning through hands-on experiences helped me realize that I want to specialize in pediatrics when I start studying nursing this fall.” Emily was recently accepted as a direct admit to the nursing program at University of Iowa, a highly competitive program that accepted only 84 students out of over 700 applicants. She credits her experience at Advocate Condell in the Penwasciz program for helping her achieve this goal. Learn more about careers at Advocate Health Care: https://bit.ly/3MHzKXE (fb)