Episode 10 - Becoming, RN
December 27, 2024
About This Episode
In this episode of Better, RN, hosts Alyssa Saklak and Laurin Masnari talk to Tacora Love, program director of Northwestern Medicine Clinical Schools. Northwestern Medicine Clinical School offer various clinical education programs that prepare students for careers in the allied health professions through hands-on clinical training and specialized didactic instruction. Tacora talks about her journey in nursing and education, the growth of the programs and empowering future healthcare professionals on their education journeys.
“I just love the Northwestern Medicine Academy. I always tell people that during my journey at Northwestern, I always wanted to end up in the Academy because education is really my passion. And when you get to merge the two, nurse and education, it’s just, it’s phenomenal.”
Show Notes
Episode Guests
Tacora Love, program director of Northwestern Medicine Clinical Schools
Tacora Love’s diverse nursing career spans more than 25 years, all at Northwestern Medicine. She now leads programs like the Basic Nursing Assistant Program, which helps students take the first step toward a nursing career.
In this episode of Better, RN, hosts Alyssa Saklak and Laurin Masnari talk to Tacora Love, program director of Northwestern Medicine Clinical Schools. Northwestern Medicine Clinical School offer various clinical education programs that prepare students for careers in the allied health professions through hands-on clinical training and specialized didactic instruction. Tacora talks about her journey in nursing and education, the growth of the programs and empowering future healthcare professionals on their education journeys.
“I just love the Northwestern Medicine Academy. I always tell people that during my journey at Northwestern, I always wanted to end up in the Academy because education is really my passion. And when you get to merge the two, nurse and education, it’s just, it’s phenomenal.”
Show Notes
- Tacora talks about the programs that cater to internal employees and external students, offering flexible schedules and pathways to healthcare careers.
- She highlights the program’s growth in recent years, doubling its class size and creating opportunities for students to transition into patient care technician roles or pursue further nursing education.
- Balancing work, life and education is a common challenge for students, but Tacora and her team provide tools for success.
- Tacora prides herself on creating a supportive classroom culture and helping students leverage resources like tuition reimbursement. She says the programs are a beacon of hope for many, making nursing education accessible to a wider audience.
- She encourages aspiring nurses to find mentors, build a solid foundation and continue learning.
Episode Guests
Tacora Love, program director of Northwestern Medicine Clinical Schools
Tacora Love’s diverse nursing career spans more than 25 years, all at Northwestern Medicine. She now leads programs like the Basic Nursing Assistant Program, which helps students take the first step toward a nursing career.
transcript
[00:00:00] Alyssa Saklak: I’m Alyssa Saklak
[00:00:06] Laurin Masnari: and I’m Laurin Masnari
[00:00:08] Alyssa Saklak: on Better, RN, we get real about nursing,
[00:00:11] Laurin Masnari: the good and the gritty.
[00:00:12] Alyssa Saklak: We talk to real healthcare experts
[00:00:15] Laurin Masnari: with the goal of becoming better
[00:00:17] Alyssa Saklak: for our patients, our colleagues,
[00:00:18] Laurin Masnari: our family, our friends,
[00:00:20] Alyssa Saklak: our partners and ourselves.
There is no one path to becoming a nurse. No one embodies this philosophy more than Tacora Love, who is a program director of Northwestern Medicine Clinical Schools, but a nurse first.
[00:00:38] Laurin Masnari: Tacora runs a unique program called the Basic Nursing Assistant Program, which empowers people to take the first step towards a career in nursing by becoming a certified nursing assistant.
[00:00:48] Alyssa Saklak: Today, Tacora is going to tell us about the program and her own journey to becoming a nurse and educator.
[00:00:53] Laurin Masnari: This is really my first time speaking with Tacora at length, but she has won so many different awards that I feel like you just know who she is; you just know the name. But my first memory of working with Tacora was when you and I put together the art exhibit for Nurses Week in 2022, and Tacora submitted two really beautiful photographs that we featured.
[00:01:14] Alyssa Saklak: Yeah, and one of them was her dad after he had beat COVID. We were reopening events, and it was a black and white picture, and her dad actually got to come over and they took a picture together. But she just has this energy that is so comforting and supportive and is like a teacher through and through, and she doesn’t even have to force it. It just is so natural to who she is. I can’t think of anyone better to be in the role that she is. And selfishly, I’m an alum with her from Millikin University, so of course I’m a huge fan because our school is pretty small, so we don’t always cross paths, and when we found that information and kind of connected, it was like an aha moment.
[00:01:50] Laurin Masnari: She not only is professional and so incredibly intelligent, but she is nurturing and she really cares about you. And she wants people to be successful in all aspects, which is so valuable and something that is so important for the growth and development of so many people. And I’m really excited to learn a little bit more about how she got here and all of the work that she has done in the last 25 years at Northwestern Medicine. So, I hope that our listeners just can catch even a glimpse of how wonderful she is today. I think they will. And this is going to be a good conversation.
---
Hi, Tacora. How are you?
[00:02:30] Tacora Love: I am well. How about you guys?
[00:02:32] Laurin Masnari: We’re good. We’re so excited to have you on the podcast today. Talk to us about your journey. How did you get to this point in your nursing career, and what actually inspired you to go into nursing from the start?
[00:02:44] Tacora Love: I’ve always known that I wanted to be a nurse. And really, my greatest inspiration is my mom. My mother is not a nurse by background, but she’s a nurse by heart. I’ve watched her caring for so many of our family members, our neighbors, and she passed that trait on to me. And formally, my aunt is a nurse, and I’m going to date myself a little bit here, but I remember helping her polish her white shoes and donning and putting on her white nurse’s uniform and hat. And that would be my favorite moment of spending time with my aunt.
And then, she went into education. She was an instructor at Malcolm X College. So then there was my love for education, as well as she instilled my love for reading. So that’s the earliest I can remember, but I’ve always been one to care for others.
My journey started directly after high school. Alyssa and I are alumni from Millikin University. And even when I was at Millikin University, I started in the first student nurse externship program here at Northwestern Medicine. So I would come back for the summers and work and the breaks and work. That really was the paramount to my nursing experience: gaining the clinical skills, the critical thinking. And then just being able to converse with patients really, really set me up for a good foundation for nursing. And then of course, once I graduated and passed the NCLEX, I transitioned right over to a registered nurse position.
This year I actually made 25 years as a Northwestern Medicine nurse. My journey has just been phenomenal here. I always tell people Northwestern Medicine is home. I love the people, the opportunities, the resources that we have.
[00:04:29] Laurin Masnari: What service line did you start as a registered nurse?
[00:04:31] Tacora Love: So the service line I first started in was women’s health. Med-surgeon college was extremely hard, and my professor at the time said, “Tacora, once you graduate, you should really go into medical-surgical nursing.” I’m like, “You’ve made it so hard; I’m going over to the babies and the moms.” Well, little did I know, I would wind up right back in medical-surgical nursing, as well as a professor of Medical-Surgical Nursing, Clinical Instructor. Other areas I have been employed in or served as a nurse are Interventional Radiology, Ambulatory Care Coordination, Neural Stepdown. And that’s the great thing about nursing is that you can have different experiences.
[00:05:10] Laurin Masnari: You’ve done a little bit of everything.
[00:05:12] Tacora Love: Yes.
[00:05:12] Laurin Masnari: And so that takes us to your current position at Northwestern Medicine, which is what?
[00:05:18] Tacora Love: Jack of all trades, I want to say, but….
[00:05:20] Laurin Masnari: Yep.
[00:05:23] Tacora Love: I am in NM clinical schools and programs as a program director of the Clinical Assistant Training Programs. And that’s oversight of the Basic Nursing Assistant Program and our fantastic Medical Assistant Program as well. We also have other schools that I definitely wanted to highlight. We have our X-ray, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy and our sonography program.
I just love the Northwestern Medicine Academy. I always tell people that during my journey at Northwestern, I always wanted to end up in the Academy because education is really my passion. And when you get to merge the two, nurse and education, it’s just, it’s phenomenal.
[00:06:02] Alyssa Saklak: Now is there a single location for these programs, or can anyone register to be a part of the programs? Tell me a little bit about that because I think some of the listeners may be like, “How do I get involved or who can go to these programs?”
[00:06:14] Tacora Love: Yeah, so we accept internal and external. So internal, of course, would be employees, and then we have external students. Would love for you guys to come over and check out our classrooms and our space that we have. It’s phenomenal. And then the other best place to go is our website. And you can take a look at all the options that are available. And of course, our employees could utilize tuition reimbursement, you know, on some of the resources that we have. We have phenomenal accredited programs.
[00:06:45] Laurin Masnari: I think Alyssa and I both have PCTs that are in our Medical Assistant Program right now.
[00:06:50] Tacora Love: Oh, love it! So exciting. So exciting.
[00:06:54] Laurin Masnari: They speak really highly of the program, and I think something that I appreciate as a manager is the flexibility that my employee can still work while also going to the Medical Assistant Program, which I think is huge for a lot of our employees.
[00:07:08] Tacora Love: Absolutely. And when we were building the curriculum and even just the program, the basic nursing program, that was the foundation of it. A little history of our basic nursing program is that it actually started as an internal pathway for our employees, and it started in 2022. We started with eight students. We are now able to offer two days of class, so Tuesday or Friday, and we can have a total of 32 students. So we have doubled, almost tripled, and then now we accept external students as well. The basic nursing assistant, medical assistant and all of the programs are just growing. We’re so excited.
[00:07:49] Laurin Masnari: The growth in just two years, I think, speaks so highly to how wonderful this program is and how great it is that we can offer this.
[00:07:56] Tacora Love: Not only do we teach the Illinois Department of Public Health skills, we also teach professional development. We’re also infusing that NM culture as well, because one of our goals of the program is once our students graduate and pass the Illinois Nurse Aid Competency exam, we work directly with our talent acquisition team to help transition them into a patient care technician role. So, I mean, that is just a phenomenal piece of things. And then a lot, over 60 percent of our students then go on to nursing school, nursing programs. We’re so excited about that. Our first cohort who graduated in 2022, they’re in their junior year. So we will soon have nursing graduates, who then we will assist in transitioning into registered nurse roles. So we’re just super excited about that and just can’t wait.
[00:08:44] Alyssa Saklak: What do you feel like has been the most challenging part of individuals going through the program, balancing school, balancing work; obviously it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. But tell us: what do you feel like has been most challenging for some of the individuals going through this?
[00:09:00] Tacora Love: Yes, Alyssa, I just think you hit the nail right on the head. It’s trying to find that work life, and always add school balance in it. Some of our students, they haven’t been in school in a very long time. Or we also have some students, external students who are in other programs; they’re completing their prerequisites. And then there’s life, right? We’re trying to balance our families. We’re trying to still balance working full time, all of those things.
So one of the things I think we do really well is one, upfront, let the students know that. We talk about test-taking skills. We talk about setting up yourself foundationally for good study habits. I’m a very old-school person. I have to have a calendar. I cannot use the apps and put everything in there. So I do suggest that you get yourself a calendar and actually block off the time to study. We have our orientation a week ahead, and we give the students the books a week ahead so that they can begin to already study.
We always tell them the first three weeks are the hardest because you’re trying to create that balance, and you’ll question yourself, like, why did I do this? What was I thinking? So the other instructors and I, what we try to do is infuse that empowerment. I’m a very motivational quote person. Every week when I send out the Sunday email, I’ll include a quote. And it’s those things. And sometimes when you build those relationships with your students, you know when something’s going on with them. And it’s just that one-on-one connection that we build with our students.
We have a very short time to create that classroom culture. And we do it. I love it. By the time we have graduation, the students are a family, and they express that, at the graduation. But it’s definitely a challenge.
I think a lot of people think it’s just a Basic Nursing Assistant Program. And I always tell people, it’s just not anything. This is a platform, this is a beacon of hope for a lot of people. For our local nursing programs, most people can’t afford the 1200-plus dollars upfront to pay for that, nor can they take PTO to attend Monday through Friday or even on the weekends, because the weekends are dedicated to that time. So we’ve taken that into account and created a program that allows for that.
[00:11:16] Laurin Masnari: It sounds, from what I’m hearing, you’re setting people up for, yes, success professionally and within the education world, but you’re also setting people up for success in the real world, and like in their personal lives and get yourself organized. And building that culture is something that Alyssa and I really try to do. And it sort of ties back to what we talked about a lot in season one of this holistic well-being of the employee, and how important it is to support people on all of these different levels, which you’re doing in this program. And it sounds like that culture lives in the rest of our schools as well.
[00:11:50] Tacora Love: Yes, absolutely. We talk a lot about self-care. Self-care is so important. Sometimes I’m like, “Okay, all right; we need a Starbucks break. Everybody, 20-minute break; get those orders in.” So just being able to pick up on those things and also just sharing the awareness with a lot of our employees and our students, because our students actually have the same resources that our employees have.
[00:12:14] Laurin Masnari: Tacora, how do you balance doing all of these things? I talked about this at the beginning, but your resume is so incredibly impressive. So how do you balance doing everything that you do for all of our clinical schools? You do a lot of volunteer work, you win like an award a month. How do you make time for all of these things?
[00:12:31] Tacora Love: You know what, simply put, because it’s my passion, I don’t feel like I’m working. I honestly don’t. It comes with ease. I won’t sit here and say that some days are not stressful, but it’s because I want the best for my students, so I continue. And it’s not only the current students, we also have an alumni program. We’re reaching out to them to make sure, and you know what, it’s the collaborations that we built. I’m not doing this by any means alone. And the Northwestern Medicine Academy in itself is just a powerhouse. Can go to anyone for support. We’ve set that foundation up. And I think it’s very important to continue to build relationships and sustain those relationships. I think that’s how I’m able to do it.
And of course, everybody will tell you, the students make jokes all the time, and coffee. I will always have a cup of coffee in my hand. But you know what? They teach me. Because they’re like, “Okay, where’s your water? Where’s your water?” They hold me accountable. But you know, with this program, as I mentioned, like they teach me. I also have to professionally develop because now we have generations in a class. So now we have to learn how to teach those different generations. So I do a lot of research, attend a lot of different conferences, and I just really try to keep myself abreast. So it’s also like a learning curve for us as well.
[00:13:47] Laurin Masnari: You are on the never-ending pursuit of education. And I love that you said, there’s this theme that has come up in many of the episodes that we’ve recorded for this podcast, but it’s so often the people we surround ourselves with that help us see these things in ourselves that make us believe that we can do more than we think we’re capable of. Which is sort of what I heard you say with the directors that you’re working with and the people that you’ve sort of, grown up here with, that have kind of helped to get you to this point. And I think Northwestern Medicine has so many strong leaders that want to see other leaders be strong leaders, which is just such a great community of directors and above that we have here.
[00:14:24] Tacora Love: Certainly, I definitely think that’s one of the greatest benefits of Northwestern Medicine. I’ve been able, as you say, to grow up here, and actually really have a career that I love. And it’s because of people mentoring, saying, “Keep going,” and that encouragement. “I’m so proud of you.” It’s my mentor, it’s those people who keep you going. But what really fuels my passion is the students and their growth and ’their “why.” Everybody has a different why, or reason for doing the program, and to see them complete their goals, it’s so rewarding.
[00:14:59] Laurin Masnari: When your students are finishing the BNA program and they’re thinking about going into nursing, registered nurse as a profession, what’s the one piece of advice that you give to them?
[00:15:09] Tacora Love: Everybody has to build their own foundation. One school may not work for you. Right? So identifying that and also remembering your why, but also get yourself a mentor. I think that has been the most impactful thing in my career is having mentors. So I definitely suggest that. And then of course, utilize your resources, right? We have tuition reimbursement. We have career development and the Office of Academic Advising, and we provide all of those things.
[00:15:38] Alyssa Saklak: Can’t end this conversation without talking about the arts. As we know, nursing is a science and an art. And I think a lot of times we forget about the art. Tell me what’s your connection to it. I feel like you naturally always encompass it, but I do feel like it helps with your wellness and your passion. You kind of said, I feel like I’m living my purpose. And I think part of that is that art form. So tell me about how you fill your cup up with the art of nursing.
[00:16:02] Tacora Love: I love that. Now, unlike you, you know I’m not an artist by any means, right? I can’t draw a straight line. But I think what I do well is journal. Write in the journal, poetry and music is therapy. Art comes in many forms. One of the things I told the students is, “It’s an art to be able to converse with a patient.” It’s an art to build those relationships. It’s an art to hold a hand, when someone is transitioning or when someone’s born. It’s the connection and the power of nursing. It’s so unique.
[00:16:37] Alyssa Saklak: I think sometimes we break it down, and we say there’s all these skills. “Oh, you have to do this skill and that skill.” But I think we minimize it when we say it’s a skill, because it really is an art form to master it and to make it unique to yourself. You kind of spoke to that like, having your own path and everyone’s expression’s going to look a little bit different.
[00:16:54] Laurin Masnari: I would like to know, you said that when you send your Sunday email, you always send an inspirational quote. Do you remember what inspirational quote you sent this past Sunday?
[00:17:03] Tacora Love: “Just keep swimming.” So Nemo, that is my favorite. And the reason I selected just keep swimming? Because it’s week number 12. There’s a little bit of senioritis sitting in, right? But we also have our exams, and we’re prepping for the state exam. So it can become a little stressful. So just keep swimming.
[00:17:23] Alyssa Saklak: I just have to ask: nurses love teaching too, right? What would that pathway look like for someone who wanted to become an instructor?
[00:17:30] Tacora Love: One of the things that Northwestern Medicine clinical schools and programs like our leadership are looking at is, could we also create a pathway for our nurses who are looking to become clinical instructors? But you know, when you apply outside, everyone’s looking for experience. Well, how do they get their experience? Can, in the future, we utilize the BNA program or clinicals as a way to get that experience? And that education for our nurses. So that’s one pathway.
The other pathway is graduate education, right? Our employees, if you have your bachelor’s, let’s go back and get that master’s. Once you have that master’s, let’s go back and get that doctorate. Just keep going. And then becoming certified in whatever specialty that you’re in. For us with education, of course, it’s a Certified Nurse Educator, or you could also do Certified Nurse Educator Clinical Instructor, which is what I have. So I would just say keep that thirst for knowledge, and just continue to grow with that.
[00:18:28] Alyssa Saklak: I love that. Yeah, we have a ton of nurses who, like myself, had found that passion for teaching just through precepting. You find yourself next in line, and you’re taking preceptor development classes, and you’re helping train and teach. And it will challenge you like none other.
[00:18:32] Tacora Love: Certainly. And your experiences are the best teachers for sure.
[00:18:37] Laurin Masnari: Tacora, you and the rest of the team have built something so special and are creating so many incredible opportunities for so many people. So thank you for that. And thank you for all of the work that you have done within Northwestern Medicine for the past 25 years. That’s such a huge accomplishment. And I feel so lucky that we got to spend this much time with you in your crazy busy schedule.
[00:19:08] Tacora Love: Certainly you guys are phenomenal. You’re doing a great job. I love it. I listen to all of the podcasts. Just awesome.
[00:19:14] Laurin Masnari: Thank you for listening. Please follow us wherever you get your podcasts, and rate and review the show.
[00:19:24] Alyssa Saklak: We’d love to hear your comments and any topics you might want us to explore.
[00:00:06] Laurin Masnari: and I’m Laurin Masnari
[00:00:08] Alyssa Saklak: on Better, RN, we get real about nursing,
[00:00:11] Laurin Masnari: the good and the gritty.
[00:00:12] Alyssa Saklak: We talk to real healthcare experts
[00:00:15] Laurin Masnari: with the goal of becoming better
[00:00:17] Alyssa Saklak: for our patients, our colleagues,
[00:00:18] Laurin Masnari: our family, our friends,
[00:00:20] Alyssa Saklak: our partners and ourselves.
There is no one path to becoming a nurse. No one embodies this philosophy more than Tacora Love, who is a program director of Northwestern Medicine Clinical Schools, but a nurse first.
[00:00:38] Laurin Masnari: Tacora runs a unique program called the Basic Nursing Assistant Program, which empowers people to take the first step towards a career in nursing by becoming a certified nursing assistant.
[00:00:48] Alyssa Saklak: Today, Tacora is going to tell us about the program and her own journey to becoming a nurse and educator.
[00:00:53] Laurin Masnari: This is really my first time speaking with Tacora at length, but she has won so many different awards that I feel like you just know who she is; you just know the name. But my first memory of working with Tacora was when you and I put together the art exhibit for Nurses Week in 2022, and Tacora submitted two really beautiful photographs that we featured.
[00:01:14] Alyssa Saklak: Yeah, and one of them was her dad after he had beat COVID. We were reopening events, and it was a black and white picture, and her dad actually got to come over and they took a picture together. But she just has this energy that is so comforting and supportive and is like a teacher through and through, and she doesn’t even have to force it. It just is so natural to who she is. I can’t think of anyone better to be in the role that she is. And selfishly, I’m an alum with her from Millikin University, so of course I’m a huge fan because our school is pretty small, so we don’t always cross paths, and when we found that information and kind of connected, it was like an aha moment.
[00:01:50] Laurin Masnari: She not only is professional and so incredibly intelligent, but she is nurturing and she really cares about you. And she wants people to be successful in all aspects, which is so valuable and something that is so important for the growth and development of so many people. And I’m really excited to learn a little bit more about how she got here and all of the work that she has done in the last 25 years at Northwestern Medicine. So, I hope that our listeners just can catch even a glimpse of how wonderful she is today. I think they will. And this is going to be a good conversation.
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Hi, Tacora. How are you?
[00:02:30] Tacora Love: I am well. How about you guys?
[00:02:32] Laurin Masnari: We’re good. We’re so excited to have you on the podcast today. Talk to us about your journey. How did you get to this point in your nursing career, and what actually inspired you to go into nursing from the start?
[00:02:44] Tacora Love: I’ve always known that I wanted to be a nurse. And really, my greatest inspiration is my mom. My mother is not a nurse by background, but she’s a nurse by heart. I’ve watched her caring for so many of our family members, our neighbors, and she passed that trait on to me. And formally, my aunt is a nurse, and I’m going to date myself a little bit here, but I remember helping her polish her white shoes and donning and putting on her white nurse’s uniform and hat. And that would be my favorite moment of spending time with my aunt.
And then, she went into education. She was an instructor at Malcolm X College. So then there was my love for education, as well as she instilled my love for reading. So that’s the earliest I can remember, but I’ve always been one to care for others.
My journey started directly after high school. Alyssa and I are alumni from Millikin University. And even when I was at Millikin University, I started in the first student nurse externship program here at Northwestern Medicine. So I would come back for the summers and work and the breaks and work. That really was the paramount to my nursing experience: gaining the clinical skills, the critical thinking. And then just being able to converse with patients really, really set me up for a good foundation for nursing. And then of course, once I graduated and passed the NCLEX, I transitioned right over to a registered nurse position.
This year I actually made 25 years as a Northwestern Medicine nurse. My journey has just been phenomenal here. I always tell people Northwestern Medicine is home. I love the people, the opportunities, the resources that we have.
[00:04:29] Laurin Masnari: What service line did you start as a registered nurse?
[00:04:31] Tacora Love: So the service line I first started in was women’s health. Med-surgeon college was extremely hard, and my professor at the time said, “Tacora, once you graduate, you should really go into medical-surgical nursing.” I’m like, “You’ve made it so hard; I’m going over to the babies and the moms.” Well, little did I know, I would wind up right back in medical-surgical nursing, as well as a professor of Medical-Surgical Nursing, Clinical Instructor. Other areas I have been employed in or served as a nurse are Interventional Radiology, Ambulatory Care Coordination, Neural Stepdown. And that’s the great thing about nursing is that you can have different experiences.
[00:05:10] Laurin Masnari: You’ve done a little bit of everything.
[00:05:12] Tacora Love: Yes.
[00:05:12] Laurin Masnari: And so that takes us to your current position at Northwestern Medicine, which is what?
[00:05:18] Tacora Love: Jack of all trades, I want to say, but….
[00:05:20] Laurin Masnari: Yep.
[00:05:23] Tacora Love: I am in NM clinical schools and programs as a program director of the Clinical Assistant Training Programs. And that’s oversight of the Basic Nursing Assistant Program and our fantastic Medical Assistant Program as well. We also have other schools that I definitely wanted to highlight. We have our X-ray, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy and our sonography program.
I just love the Northwestern Medicine Academy. I always tell people that during my journey at Northwestern, I always wanted to end up in the Academy because education is really my passion. And when you get to merge the two, nurse and education, it’s just, it’s phenomenal.
[00:06:02] Alyssa Saklak: Now is there a single location for these programs, or can anyone register to be a part of the programs? Tell me a little bit about that because I think some of the listeners may be like, “How do I get involved or who can go to these programs?”
[00:06:14] Tacora Love: Yeah, so we accept internal and external. So internal, of course, would be employees, and then we have external students. Would love for you guys to come over and check out our classrooms and our space that we have. It’s phenomenal. And then the other best place to go is our website. And you can take a look at all the options that are available. And of course, our employees could utilize tuition reimbursement, you know, on some of the resources that we have. We have phenomenal accredited programs.
[00:06:45] Laurin Masnari: I think Alyssa and I both have PCTs that are in our Medical Assistant Program right now.
[00:06:50] Tacora Love: Oh, love it! So exciting. So exciting.
[00:06:54] Laurin Masnari: They speak really highly of the program, and I think something that I appreciate as a manager is the flexibility that my employee can still work while also going to the Medical Assistant Program, which I think is huge for a lot of our employees.
[00:07:08] Tacora Love: Absolutely. And when we were building the curriculum and even just the program, the basic nursing program, that was the foundation of it. A little history of our basic nursing program is that it actually started as an internal pathway for our employees, and it started in 2022. We started with eight students. We are now able to offer two days of class, so Tuesday or Friday, and we can have a total of 32 students. So we have doubled, almost tripled, and then now we accept external students as well. The basic nursing assistant, medical assistant and all of the programs are just growing. We’re so excited.
[00:07:49] Laurin Masnari: The growth in just two years, I think, speaks so highly to how wonderful this program is and how great it is that we can offer this.
[00:07:56] Tacora Love: Not only do we teach the Illinois Department of Public Health skills, we also teach professional development. We’re also infusing that NM culture as well, because one of our goals of the program is once our students graduate and pass the Illinois Nurse Aid Competency exam, we work directly with our talent acquisition team to help transition them into a patient care technician role. So, I mean, that is just a phenomenal piece of things. And then a lot, over 60 percent of our students then go on to nursing school, nursing programs. We’re so excited about that. Our first cohort who graduated in 2022, they’re in their junior year. So we will soon have nursing graduates, who then we will assist in transitioning into registered nurse roles. So we’re just super excited about that and just can’t wait.
[00:08:44] Alyssa Saklak: What do you feel like has been the most challenging part of individuals going through the program, balancing school, balancing work; obviously it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. But tell us: what do you feel like has been most challenging for some of the individuals going through this?
[00:09:00] Tacora Love: Yes, Alyssa, I just think you hit the nail right on the head. It’s trying to find that work life, and always add school balance in it. Some of our students, they haven’t been in school in a very long time. Or we also have some students, external students who are in other programs; they’re completing their prerequisites. And then there’s life, right? We’re trying to balance our families. We’re trying to still balance working full time, all of those things.
So one of the things I think we do really well is one, upfront, let the students know that. We talk about test-taking skills. We talk about setting up yourself foundationally for good study habits. I’m a very old-school person. I have to have a calendar. I cannot use the apps and put everything in there. So I do suggest that you get yourself a calendar and actually block off the time to study. We have our orientation a week ahead, and we give the students the books a week ahead so that they can begin to already study.
We always tell them the first three weeks are the hardest because you’re trying to create that balance, and you’ll question yourself, like, why did I do this? What was I thinking? So the other instructors and I, what we try to do is infuse that empowerment. I’m a very motivational quote person. Every week when I send out the Sunday email, I’ll include a quote. And it’s those things. And sometimes when you build those relationships with your students, you know when something’s going on with them. And it’s just that one-on-one connection that we build with our students.
We have a very short time to create that classroom culture. And we do it. I love it. By the time we have graduation, the students are a family, and they express that, at the graduation. But it’s definitely a challenge.
I think a lot of people think it’s just a Basic Nursing Assistant Program. And I always tell people, it’s just not anything. This is a platform, this is a beacon of hope for a lot of people. For our local nursing programs, most people can’t afford the 1200-plus dollars upfront to pay for that, nor can they take PTO to attend Monday through Friday or even on the weekends, because the weekends are dedicated to that time. So we’ve taken that into account and created a program that allows for that.
[00:11:16] Laurin Masnari: It sounds, from what I’m hearing, you’re setting people up for, yes, success professionally and within the education world, but you’re also setting people up for success in the real world, and like in their personal lives and get yourself organized. And building that culture is something that Alyssa and I really try to do. And it sort of ties back to what we talked about a lot in season one of this holistic well-being of the employee, and how important it is to support people on all of these different levels, which you’re doing in this program. And it sounds like that culture lives in the rest of our schools as well.
[00:11:50] Tacora Love: Yes, absolutely. We talk a lot about self-care. Self-care is so important. Sometimes I’m like, “Okay, all right; we need a Starbucks break. Everybody, 20-minute break; get those orders in.” So just being able to pick up on those things and also just sharing the awareness with a lot of our employees and our students, because our students actually have the same resources that our employees have.
[00:12:14] Laurin Masnari: Tacora, how do you balance doing all of these things? I talked about this at the beginning, but your resume is so incredibly impressive. So how do you balance doing everything that you do for all of our clinical schools? You do a lot of volunteer work, you win like an award a month. How do you make time for all of these things?
[00:12:31] Tacora Love: You know what, simply put, because it’s my passion, I don’t feel like I’m working. I honestly don’t. It comes with ease. I won’t sit here and say that some days are not stressful, but it’s because I want the best for my students, so I continue. And it’s not only the current students, we also have an alumni program. We’re reaching out to them to make sure, and you know what, it’s the collaborations that we built. I’m not doing this by any means alone. And the Northwestern Medicine Academy in itself is just a powerhouse. Can go to anyone for support. We’ve set that foundation up. And I think it’s very important to continue to build relationships and sustain those relationships. I think that’s how I’m able to do it.
And of course, everybody will tell you, the students make jokes all the time, and coffee. I will always have a cup of coffee in my hand. But you know what? They teach me. Because they’re like, “Okay, where’s your water? Where’s your water?” They hold me accountable. But you know, with this program, as I mentioned, like they teach me. I also have to professionally develop because now we have generations in a class. So now we have to learn how to teach those different generations. So I do a lot of research, attend a lot of different conferences, and I just really try to keep myself abreast. So it’s also like a learning curve for us as well.
[00:13:47] Laurin Masnari: You are on the never-ending pursuit of education. And I love that you said, there’s this theme that has come up in many of the episodes that we’ve recorded for this podcast, but it’s so often the people we surround ourselves with that help us see these things in ourselves that make us believe that we can do more than we think we’re capable of. Which is sort of what I heard you say with the directors that you’re working with and the people that you’ve sort of, grown up here with, that have kind of helped to get you to this point. And I think Northwestern Medicine has so many strong leaders that want to see other leaders be strong leaders, which is just such a great community of directors and above that we have here.
[00:14:24] Tacora Love: Certainly, I definitely think that’s one of the greatest benefits of Northwestern Medicine. I’ve been able, as you say, to grow up here, and actually really have a career that I love. And it’s because of people mentoring, saying, “Keep going,” and that encouragement. “I’m so proud of you.” It’s my mentor, it’s those people who keep you going. But what really fuels my passion is the students and their growth and ’their “why.” Everybody has a different why, or reason for doing the program, and to see them complete their goals, it’s so rewarding.
[00:14:59] Laurin Masnari: When your students are finishing the BNA program and they’re thinking about going into nursing, registered nurse as a profession, what’s the one piece of advice that you give to them?
[00:15:09] Tacora Love: Everybody has to build their own foundation. One school may not work for you. Right? So identifying that and also remembering your why, but also get yourself a mentor. I think that has been the most impactful thing in my career is having mentors. So I definitely suggest that. And then of course, utilize your resources, right? We have tuition reimbursement. We have career development and the Office of Academic Advising, and we provide all of those things.
[00:15:38] Alyssa Saklak: Can’t end this conversation without talking about the arts. As we know, nursing is a science and an art. And I think a lot of times we forget about the art. Tell me what’s your connection to it. I feel like you naturally always encompass it, but I do feel like it helps with your wellness and your passion. You kind of said, I feel like I’m living my purpose. And I think part of that is that art form. So tell me about how you fill your cup up with the art of nursing.
[00:16:02] Tacora Love: I love that. Now, unlike you, you know I’m not an artist by any means, right? I can’t draw a straight line. But I think what I do well is journal. Write in the journal, poetry and music is therapy. Art comes in many forms. One of the things I told the students is, “It’s an art to be able to converse with a patient.” It’s an art to build those relationships. It’s an art to hold a hand, when someone is transitioning or when someone’s born. It’s the connection and the power of nursing. It’s so unique.
[00:16:37] Alyssa Saklak: I think sometimes we break it down, and we say there’s all these skills. “Oh, you have to do this skill and that skill.” But I think we minimize it when we say it’s a skill, because it really is an art form to master it and to make it unique to yourself. You kind of spoke to that like, having your own path and everyone’s expression’s going to look a little bit different.
[00:16:54] Laurin Masnari: I would like to know, you said that when you send your Sunday email, you always send an inspirational quote. Do you remember what inspirational quote you sent this past Sunday?
[00:17:03] Tacora Love: “Just keep swimming.” So Nemo, that is my favorite. And the reason I selected just keep swimming? Because it’s week number 12. There’s a little bit of senioritis sitting in, right? But we also have our exams, and we’re prepping for the state exam. So it can become a little stressful. So just keep swimming.
[00:17:23] Alyssa Saklak: I just have to ask: nurses love teaching too, right? What would that pathway look like for someone who wanted to become an instructor?
[00:17:30] Tacora Love: One of the things that Northwestern Medicine clinical schools and programs like our leadership are looking at is, could we also create a pathway for our nurses who are looking to become clinical instructors? But you know, when you apply outside, everyone’s looking for experience. Well, how do they get their experience? Can, in the future, we utilize the BNA program or clinicals as a way to get that experience? And that education for our nurses. So that’s one pathway.
The other pathway is graduate education, right? Our employees, if you have your bachelor’s, let’s go back and get that master’s. Once you have that master’s, let’s go back and get that doctorate. Just keep going. And then becoming certified in whatever specialty that you’re in. For us with education, of course, it’s a Certified Nurse Educator, or you could also do Certified Nurse Educator Clinical Instructor, which is what I have. So I would just say keep that thirst for knowledge, and just continue to grow with that.
[00:18:28] Alyssa Saklak: I love that. Yeah, we have a ton of nurses who, like myself, had found that passion for teaching just through precepting. You find yourself next in line, and you’re taking preceptor development classes, and you’re helping train and teach. And it will challenge you like none other.
[00:18:32] Tacora Love: Certainly. And your experiences are the best teachers for sure.
[00:18:37] Laurin Masnari: Tacora, you and the rest of the team have built something so special and are creating so many incredible opportunities for so many people. So thank you for that. And thank you for all of the work that you have done within Northwestern Medicine for the past 25 years. That’s such a huge accomplishment. And I feel so lucky that we got to spend this much time with you in your crazy busy schedule.
[00:19:08] Tacora Love: Certainly you guys are phenomenal. You’re doing a great job. I love it. I listen to all of the podcasts. Just awesome.
[00:19:14] Laurin Masnari: Thank you for listening. Please follow us wherever you get your podcasts, and rate and review the show.
[00:19:24] Alyssa Saklak: We’d love to hear your comments and any topics you might want us to explore.