Katherine Roberts, a junior nursing major, seems to have only good things to say about NIU’s nursing program.

“The nursing department is definitely preparing me for the real world,” Roberts said.

Marilyn Frank-Stromborg, chair of the nursing department and a certified nurse practitioner specializing in oncology nursing, agreed with Roberts.

“We prepare students for the workplace by providing clinical experience and increasing expectations of clinical performance as the nursing student goes through the curriculum,” she said. “By the last semester, they are expected to totally take care of four to five patients.”

There are 353 students in the undergraduate nursing program and 131 students in the graduate program.

Frank-Stromborg, who has been a nurse for 34 years, said there is a national need for nurses because many nurses will retire soon.

She said students usually have multiple job offers before graduation.

Internships are extremely important in the nursing field.

Summer internships are offered through the Cooperative Education Program, a state grant program in which students are paid $10 an hour for a six-week experience at a hospital, Frank-Stromborg said.

Ken Burns, associate chair in the College of Nursing, said nursing students complete a minimum of 540 hours of hands-on experience in a variety of health care settings. In addition to clinical hours, students are required to practice nursing skills and procedures in a cutting-edge learning laboratory, he said.