Wearing green surgical scrubs and an official Johnson City Medical Center (JCMC) identity badge, 17-year-old Union County High School senior Deanna Rodgers listened eagerly to flight instructions before donning her helmet and climbing into the awaiting helicopter.

“I get to see everything” Rodgers said with a smile about her experience this week at JCMC. “It's been awesome. We haven't been bored one bit.”

The ride around Johnson City in the WINGS Air Rescue helicopter was just one of the numerous experiences for the seven students participating in the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) week-long program designed to introduce students from rural high schools to the world of nursing.

“They learn what it is like to have a nursing schedule while also introducing them to the college life,” said Jamie Bastian, an Academic Advisor for ETSU's College of Nursing .

The program was completed Friday.

The students stayed in campus dorms, attended classes on nursing and participated in social events in the evenings. For their time at JCMC, each student was assigned to a nurse and followed that healthcare provider during his/her workday. Students were outfitted in medical scrubs and given the badges to identify them in the hospital.

“I did this because I want to be a nurse,” said Kristen Voce, a 17-year-old senior at Elizabethton High School . “I wanted to see nursing first hand before actually going to college.”

Students were able to see many medical procedures during their time at JCMC, including a cesarean section and the work in the Emergency Department.

“I got to see a heart catheterization,” Voce said.

Bastian said the program helps students better understand how hospitals operate and what type of work nurses actually do.

“We really try to bring in students from the rural areas,” the advisor said. “This is a program that we have been doing for several years.”

Along with helping students understand the nursing career, the program also works as a recruiting tool for the hospital.

“We've had students who've gone through the program end up in nursing school,” said Hollie Vaughan, a registered nurse who recruits nurses for Mountain States Health Alliance (MSHA), the parent company of JCMC. “It's a very exciting way to get students involved and give them the knowledge that these careers are out there and obtainable.”