Shannon Huff ’22 Continues Learning at DHMC

When Shannon Huff ’22 started working as a registered nurse at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center following her graduation, she had the advantage of already understanding the workplace culture because she had spent so much time at DHMC as a nursing student.

“Because we do all of our clinical work at DHMC I was already very familiar with the systems and policies in place which gave me the opportunity to focus more on the nursing aspects of the job when I first started out,” the Hopkinton, New Hampshire, native said. “I also had the opportunity to connect with other nurses and managers at DHMC while I was there as a student which helped open doors for me.”

Shannon, who was a BOLD scholar at Colby-Sawyer, completed the nurse residency program at DHMC in inpatient surgery. She transferred to the intermediate special care unit (ISCU) in July 2023 after finishing her residency.

Shannon explained that the ISCU (intermediate special care unit) is a step-down or progressive care unit, which means that it serves patients whose level of need falls between general care and intensive care.

“Working on the ISCU gives me more opportunities to learn as I work with patients that require a higher level of care,” Shannon said. “I primarily work with surgical patients, but we see patients with a variety of medical conditions and backgrounds.”

She said she values the experience because she is always learning new things. For now, she is happy working at the bedside and connecting with patients but said she may consider furthering her nursing education in the future.

“Being a nursing student at CSC definitely helped prepare me for my career at DHMC,” Shannon said. “From the classroom to the clinical setting, I felt like our faculty were very dedicated to preparing us for the nursing profession. We always had resources available such as the sim lab on campus to get help and practice our skills.”

The most recent outcomes report from the Harrington Center for Experiential Learning indicates that, like Shannon, 100% of the Class of 2022 is employed or in graduate school. Read more about Colby-Sawyer graduate outcomes.