Alice Le wants to serve, and the COVID-19 pandemic will not get in her way.
A nursing assistant at Regions Hospital who started her position in May 2020 during the early months of the pandemic, Alice didn’t hesitate before stepping up to the front lines of hospital work in a time of crisis.
“I really like being in trauma and the Level I clinical setting – I like the adrenaline rush,” says Alice. “At the end of summer when COVID was high, I was interacting a lot with respiratory therapists. Being in the hospital, there was a high level of pulmonary consultation and direct experience in bedside patient care. I like being a healthcare worker in an area that puts me in a helping position with COVID patients, and the pandemic brought out my interest in respiratory care.”
C3 Fellow Alice Le
“I like being a healthcare worker in an area that puts me in a helping position with COVID patients, and the pandemic brought out my interest in respiratory care.”
Connecting through C3 Fellows
Alice, a junior at St. Catherine University, has been drawn to healthcare since childhood. “I always knew I wanted to do something in healthcare to help people,” says Alice. “I grew up down the street from Regions in the heart of Saint Paul, and many of my family members also work at Regions. I’ve been around healthcare professionals for most of my life, and once I got into the field I liked it.”
Alice was already in the process of applying to a job at Regions when she came across the Central Corridor College (C3) Fellows program in an email message. The C3 Fellows program is an initiative of the Central Corridor Anchor Partnership that connects healthcare students from diverse backgrounds to opportunities in their fields of study at M Health Fairview, Hennepin Health, and Regions/Health Partners.
Participating colleges include Augsburg University, Minneapolis College, Saint Paul College, University of St. Thomas/Dougherty Family College, and St. Catherine University. Program Director Shawn Vang works with college and employer partners to facilitate career connections for students.
C3 Fellows Program Director Shawn Vang
When Shawn received Alice’s application to C3 Fellows, he reached out to Alice and to the HR team at Regions to help make sure the connection was made.
“Shawn helps me build connections, and checks in regularly to see how I am doing,” says Alice. “He checked in back in March when I was supposed to start my role at Regions, and continues checking in to see if I have any concerns about the work environment.”
Alice was slated to begin her nursing assistant job in March, but onboarding was delayed because of the pandemic.
Linking School, Work, and Career Readiness
Alice’s role as a nursing assistant in a float pool at Regions has worked well with her school schedule, enabling her to gain career-relevant work experience while fulfilling her academic requirements. “Float is more flexible. Each unit already has a nursing assistant, and we fill gaps,” explains Alice. “My nurse manager has been understanding about schedules.”
Alice obtained her CNA certification in 2018 and worked in a transitional care unit prior to looking for a clinical role. Before May, Alice thought about pursuing nursing but was overall undecided about the direction of her medical career.
While at Regions, she has learned more about respiratory care, and sees how respiratory therapists work in a hospital setting. In the clinic, she sees procedures like intubations and learns more about what respiratory therapists do.
“Before working at Regions, I didn’t know much about respiratory care. Over the summer, I went out on a limb and chose respiratory care as my major,” says Alice. “My experience at Regions opened my eyes and made me more interested in learning about what respiratory therapists do. There was so much I didn’t know. Being in a hospital setting helps me get my foot in the door and stay active in the clinical environment.”
“Being in a hospital setting helps me get my foot in the door and stay active in the clinical environment.”
Alice adds that she has felt secure working in a hospital during the pandemic. “Regions has many protocols in place in response to COVID that I had to learn when I started my role. It was a lot to learn, and a little confusing at first, but now I understand it.”
A rotation in Regions’ intensive care unit (ICU) put Alice in the same room with the head of respiratory care at Regions, and Alice struck up a conversation about her career goals. This connection led to an invitation for Alice to job shadow respiratory therapists at Regions, and the department head gave Alice her number for future reference and questions.
Mapping a Career Pathway
Alice took a maternity leave from her role at Regions at the end of August, and will be back to work in December. She is currently in a clinicals rotation in respiratory care at Hennepin County Medical Center.
She plans to graduate in 2022 with her respiratory care degree, take the board exam to obtain a registered respiratory therapist certification, then apply for a job as a respiratory therapist at a hospital in the Twin Cities.
Within a few years, Alice plans to go back to school to become a physician assistant specializing in cardio-pulmonary patients. “I would like to use my respiratory care training and a specialty in cardio to combine my love of those two areas of medicine,” she says.