Tuition Assistance, Polk State Partnership Pave Way for Cardiac Nurse
by REBEKAH PIERCE
Rebekah Kleiner knows all too well that the road to a rewarding career often isn’t a linear one. It’s a path with plenty of detours and bumps in the road, but with the help of an innovative program spearheaded by BayCare and Polk State College, the journey is becoming easier to navigate than ever before.
Kleiner, now a nurse on the Winter Haven Hospital cardiac surgical floor, didn’t begin her career with aspirations of working in the medical field. Growing up in Tampa, she had a background in hospitality and teaching, but she knew those fields weren’t what she wanted to stick with for her entire career.
“I found out becoming a nurse meant you’d use those skills together, hospitality and teaching. I had a strong foundation, but I was missing the medical part of it,” she says.
Because she wanted to continue working while building her credentials, Kleiner knew she had to get creative. When she discovered the Partnership for Success and Tuition-Assistance Benefit Programs at BayCare, she knew she’d found her solution.
According to the workforce development team at BayCare, Partnership for Success is a collaboration between BayCare’s Polk region and Polk State College’s College of Nursing. It helps BayCare Polk team members who aspire to a career in nursing.
The Tuition-Assistance Benefit program, on the other hand, is designed for BayCare team members who have been employed with the health system for at least six months, providing financial assistance for “eligible certification programs, college credit, and degreed or non-degreed courses to help them improve, advance, or transfer to another position within the organization.”
Kleiner took advantage of both. Referring to Partnership for Success as an “earn as you learn” model, she said the program not only provided her with financial assistance throughout her studies, paying her tuition and books for nursing school up front, but also valuable work experience.
“What’s amazing about the Partnership for Success program is you signed a two-year contract, so I already had a job waiting for me after nursing school,” she says. “Some of my colleagues in [nursing] school had to go through interviews, [and] were stressed because they didn’t know where they’d work after school. I didn’t have to worry about any of that and could just transition easily into my registered nursing role.”
Partnership for Success also provides students with the training and onboarding support they need to feel confident right from day one. “They don’t just have you start by yourself,” Kleiner clarifies. “I got three months of hands-on training. I had my preceptor with me the whole time, and she was able to answer any questions. Going into practice, it’s nice to have people and resources there to teach and train you.”
According to Kleiner, Partnership for Success is a widely underutilized program that she wishes more people knew about. “A lot of people know about the tuition reimbursement [program],” she says, but are ignorant to the many opportunities Partnership for Success offers for professional development.
“Some people just do nursing school and start working and don’t have the PCT – patient care technician – background. I feel as if you’re able to use the earn as you learn program, then you have a better understanding of what becoming a nurse is, and a better foundation.”
Both programs, Partnership for Success and the Tuition-Assistance Benefit program, require formal applications. The effort required to fill out the forms and go through the interviews, Kleiner says, is worth it.
“They give you preceptors, resources, people to reach out to if you have specific questions about the process or need help with anything. They really gave me the skills to be successful in nursing school. Partnership for Success also covered the NCLEX board cost, which is a great thing.”
Kleiner plans to continue her work on Winter Haven’s cardiac unit.
“I love what I’m doing there,” she says. “I want to continue on to get my bachelor’s in nursing in the next year, and from there, I’m not sure. One day, I might go into education and teach once I get enough experience.”
When asked if she would have been able to advance her career without these resources, Kleiner gives an adamant “no.”
“The pathways really gave me the skills to be successful, [and the] flexibility to work three days a week, two days a week…good flexibility to continue on with your education.”
The goal of these programs isn’t just about paying students to finish their studies, but to help them build new competencies and become more, “confident, engaged, and prepared to transition into roles that align with their skills and aspirations,” per the workforce development team at BayCare.
“Whether a team member is working toward a High School Diploma, completing technical training, or advancing through degree-level programs, BayCare stands by them at every level of education.”