Liberty Nursing students meet with over 50 healthcare organizations at their largest-ever Career Fair

Around 500 students from the Liberty University School of Nursing (LUSON) spent Tuesday afternoon making connections and meeting potential future employers at this semester’s Nursing & Healthcare Career Fair, held in the Montview Alumni Ballroom from 2-5 p.m.

This semester’s fair was the largest to date for nursing, with over 50 healthcare organizations present, including 19 that had not participated in past years. Organizations included Carilion Clinic, Duke Health, Horizon Behavioral Health, Mayo Clinic, Runk and Pratt Companies, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, and more. The fair was facilitated by Liberty’s Career Services office.

“The goal is to expose as many students as possible to the wonderful world of healthcare and make the time more meaningful for the organizations present,” LUSON Interim Dean Tracey Turner said. “For nursing students, organizations around the nation are here to actively recruit our graduates because of their excellent clinical skills, nursing knowledge, and work ethic, so it is an exciting time for Liberty.”

Among the organizations was Centra Health, a Lynchburg-based healthcare network that partners with LUSON for student clinicals and has become a consistent employer of graduates.

“We’ve been hiring Liberty students at Centra for a long time,” said Angela Cassidy, supervisor of nurse recruitment for Centra Health. “They’re extremely prepared and professional, they have a good Christian background, and we have seen many exceptional students come from Liberty. When they graduate, they can (enter) our floors and function like one of our experienced nurses.”

Students were able to walk around the three rows of tables that spanned the room to speak with a wide variety of organizations within healthcare, something that junior Sarah Aidar appreciated about the event.

“I feel like this has been a great opportunity to step outside of what I’ve already seen in the job prospects. There are a lot of great opportunities here that I hadn’t heard of before,” said Aidar, who hopes to go into pediatrics. “It was cool to see how many (organizations) wanted to come here and wanted to hire new nursing grads. There are so many places that offer great opportunities.”

For many students, the event can be their first introduction to a particular organization and can often lead to job opportunities.

“Just putting myself out there is a huge step in connecting with people. I wouldn’t have known (where to start) without coming to something like this,” senior Julia Booker said, noting that she wants to go into labor and delivery. “It’s a great way to get your foot in the door at a hospital as a nurse because there are so many of us out there.”