Northwest Hospital’s Allied Health Program Is Inspiring the Nurses of Tomorrow
Did you know what you wanted to do with your career all the way back in eighth grade? Emmanuella Godswill did, and now she is living out that dream at Northwest Hospital. How she got here is a testament to her passion for the work and her early exposure to her career path.
Before we get to that, you need to know about Northwest's partnership with Randallstown High School and Northwest Academy. This partnership was created nine years ago to nurture, encourage and interest middle and high school students in healthcare careers and provide them experience in a hospital setting. These partnerships form the basis of a comprehensive program that exposes students through a progressive process of learning and education over the course of several years.
In middle school, students are inducted into the Allied Health Program and begin their exposure to careers in healthcare. Throughout the high school years, students get progressive exposure to healthcare in a hospital setting, starting with theory and leading to hands-on training by their senior year. Ninth graders in the program are introduced to the profession by learning healthcare terminology. Tenth-grade students learn clinical skills such as vital signs, CPR and HIPAA training. In eleventh grade, students receive hands-on training in various clinical settings at Northwest Hospital.
In their senior year, students transition to LifeBridge Health’s Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, where they complete training and certification as certified nursing assistants.
This takes us back to Emmanuella, one of the first students to participate in the program. That exposure in middle school piqued her interest in the use of prosthetic devices. Her curiosity in healthcare continued to grow at Randallstown High School, where she became part of the first cohort of high school students to take advantage of this unique community partnership. Since then, more than 225 students have participated in the program at Northwest.
Tara Boynton is the student clinical coordinator at Northwest. In her role, she works closely with high school juniors and supports them as they rotate through various departments at the hospital over a six-month period. She helps to guide and direct their experience in the hospital and facilitates their learning. “I believe Emmanuella is an example of the benefits and success of the program,” Tara says. “She was in the first cohort back in 2019 and is the first student who has returned to work in our hospital as an RN and nurse resident! I’m so proud of her!”
After graduating from Randallstown High, Emmanuella moved on to the nursing program at Frostburg State. The 22-year-old RN is now eight months into the Nurse Residency Program at Northwest Hospital. The Nurse Residency Program is highly revered for its national standards on educating and preparing first-year nurses like Emmanuella.
“The yearlong evidence-based program is designed to support new RNs from their college experience to professional practice,” says Alexia Plummer, clinical excellence supervisor and nurse resident educator. “We provide clinical support and reinforce professional and ethical standards for the new nurses and guidance in all areas of clinical practice, including support on how to cope with death and dying, as well as education on strokes and team building.”
Learning how to communicate with patients and families is one of the most important things Emmanuella says she has learned. “As a nurse, it’s important to be flexible and compassionate with each patient. Be open, be honest, be myself.”
That breadth of education, ranging all the way back to middle school, is certainly paying off. Says Nurse Manager Glynda Murphy, “It has been an absolute pleasure to watch Emmanuella blossom and grow in her nursing career. Our patients, our team and our organization are fortunate to have her as one of our nurses.”
The future of the partnership program is just as bright. Northwest Hospital, under the leadership of President Craig Carmichael, is committed to the continued success of the Allied Health Program students. In addition to the continuation of the education and training programs, Northwest funds the Brian White Scholarship, which provides scholarship awards to Randallstown High School students each year to support their pursuit of a nursing degree. 2025 marks the second cohort of students to receive the scholarship award, and we look forward to continuing that tradition annually. We are forging ahead with the next generation of nurses at Northwest, and we are thrilled that Emmanuella is leading the way.