Erin Purcell '24: Helping People on their Worst Days

Since joining the Emmanuel community, she’s helped to shape the culture of the School of Nursing both as a member of the second cohort of traditional undergraduate nursing students and as President of the brand new Students of Nursing Club. In this role, she serves as a resource to her classmates, and also helps them make connections with peers and potential employers. In turn, she’s found her professors have been more than willing to do their part to help her succeed.

So far in her nursing journey, Erin has completed clinical experiences in the oncology unit at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, a medical-surgical rotation at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center and a student nurse internship at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital . While she has been able to successfully translate the skills learned in Emmanuel’s nursing labs to her clinical locations, the most valuable lessons she has learned working with patients center on communication and understanding.

“Working with patients who may be going through emotional experiences, or have gone through them in the past in the past, has truly taught me you never know what your patient has experienced or is experiencing,” she says.

“Everyone deserves the best care and the best attitude you can provide. This can make all of the difference in a patient's healing process."