Future nurses seek job edge

Tuition assistance,
internships and job
prospects drew students to the event.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATON WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University nursing student Megan Felleti of Boardman has two years to go before she graduates but that didn’t stop her from visiting a campus nursing job fair.

Felleti said that when she learned recruiters from The Cleveland Clinic would be at the fair, she made it a point to get to the fair in Kilcawley Center during a break between classes Monday.

“I kind of want to get in with Cleveland Clinic. They’re the best in the world. That’s where I want to work,” she said after speaking with recruiters.

Cleveland Clinic offers summer internships to nursing students, and Felleti said she made the contact needed to speak with the people handling that program and hopes to land an internship working as an aide.

Jeff Shaffo of Youngstown, a senior nursing student, was also making the rounds of more than a dozen recruiting tables at the fair, although he wasn’t looking to land a local or even regional job.

Shaffo said he wants to relocate to the south — perhaps South Carolina or Florida —and has already begun putting in applications at health care facilities in those areas.

However, he acknowledged that the pitch from military recruiters offering tuition reimbursement as an enticement for nurses interested in joining the service was interesting.

“It’s an option,” he said, adding that his brother is in the military and recently graduated from Navy SEAL school.

This was YSU’s eighth annual nursing job fair, said Cynthia Daniels, a YSU nursing instructor. The program targets YSU students but was open to those already practicing in the field, she said.

Most YSU nursing students get jobs within three months of graduation, Daniels said.

Recruiters at the fair said the salary for registered nurses in the region is around $25 an hour.

“This is always a good fair for Salem Hospital,” said Jackie Boyle, a recruiter for Salem Community Hospital, commenting on the quality of students coming out of the program. “YSU prepares then very well.”

Jackie Adamich, a recruiter for University Hospitals of Cleveland, said her employer has participated in the YSU job fair for years.

“It’s a good move for us to be here,” she said, explaining that she anticipated meeting some great candidates and wasn’t disappointed.

“The students are very well prepared. YSU graduates do well,” she said.

Adamich said she also had a couple of experienced nurses stop by her table.

University Hospitals offers tuition support for up to two years in exchange for a commitment to work in the organization’s seven- (soon to be eight) hospital system. Student internships are also available, she said.

Student Maribeth Schiavone of Warren, who still has two years remaining in the program, said she didn’t learn about the fair until Monday morning but made it a point to stop by to talk to recruiters, just to see what is out there.

She said she’s always been interested in nursing, even as a little girl. The field of medicine has always been a part of her family, she said, pointing out that her father is a dentist and her mother worked in a hospital.