Luther senior Philip Bagnoli interns at Holy Family Hospital in India.

Assisting in the intensive care unit, Luther College senior Philip Bagnoli spent the summer interning at Holy Family Hospital in New Delhi, India.

Bagnoli, son of Joe Bagnoli and Lori Zastrow, is a 2015 graduate of Grinnell High School. He plans to graduate from Luther in 2019 with a major in nursing.

Interning in an intensive care unit at a small missionary hospital, Bagnoli provided nursing care to patients under staff nurses’ supervision. He administered medication, placed IVs, initiated tube feedings, suctioned tracheostomies and more.

Through his experience, Bagnoli discovered that “I am most effective when I am working as part of a team.” The team-oriented nature of healthcare makes this a valuable skill for those in the nursing profession. Being able to work well with others in his internship allowed his patients “to receive the best care possible, improving their health outcomes,” Bagnoli said.

Having an opportunity to practice nursing care affirmed Bagnoli’s interest in nursing care in the acute setting. “Caring for patients facing serious illnesses is both challenging and rewarding, and it is something that I can see myself doing for a long time. I hope to work in an intensive care unit after graduating from Luther, and this was a great way to explore what that particular field of nursing is like,” Bagnoli said.

Approximately 10 percent of Luther students take an internship for academic credit each academic year. The Luther College Career Center assists students with their internship search through resume preparation, networking, online internship searches, career fairs, on-campus interviewing and connecting the student to alumni through the college’s Alumni Internship Program. Students also meet with a faculty adviser prior to the internship to create an internship learning plan that includes learning goals and assessment benchmarks.

An internship work supervisor assists in the process by writing an evaluation of the student at the end of the internship. Students also complete a self-reflection form to help finalize the learning experience.A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,005, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.