Students, Retirees, and School Nurses Pitch In to Fight COVID-19
Nursing students, nursing schools, school nurses grounded after school closures, and retired nurses are all joining the fight against the rising pandemic.
Here are just a few examples to be found across the United States:
Jackson, Mississippi
Seniors at Belhaven’s School of Nursing are performing community outreach and educating the public on how to protect themselves and others from the virus. Students are teaching infection-control techniques, discussed sanitation practices with the college’s operations team, and have posted instructions in campus dorms on maintaining safe hygiene. Senior Rebecca Rylander tells Jackson’s WJTV, “There is a desperate need for healthcare workers amidst this pandemic, and I want to help fill that need.”
Long Island, New York
At nursing and medical programs in Long Island, students barred from immediate contact with patients are playing an active role behind the scenes and on the front lines. While medical students at the Renaissance School of Medicine in Stonybrook are conducting online research and serving patients via telehealth sessions, the Barbara H. Hagan School of Nursing and Health Sciences tells Newsday that they have “alumni, graduate students and faculty working in emergency rooms and testing sites, and undergraduates are working or volunteering as nursing assistants.”
Darien, Connecticut
School nurses have volunteered at Darien High School’s COVID-19 testing station. Lisa Grant, a school district nurse at Hindley School, said “We had been asking our director what we can do to help so when Darien signed up for a site, we volunteered.” Yvonne Dempsey, of Ox Ridge School was also ready to help out. Dempsey told the Darien Times, “As nurses, we put ourselves out there any way we can. I figured that’s something I can do in my free time with the schools closed.” She adds, “Testing is the key — testing and isolation as much as possible is the only way to stop the spread.”
Framingham, Massachusetts, Caldwell, New Jersey, and elsewhere
In response to calls from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, nursing faculty at colleges, universities, and community colleges are rushing to donate supplies of everything from masks to isolation gowns, to hand sanitizer. “This is a time when we all need to come together as a community and work cooperatively to fight this pandemic for the health and safety of everyone,” MassBay Community College President David Podell told the Framingham Source. Jennifer Rhodes, DNP, a faculty member at Caldwell University’s School of Nursing and Public Health, remarked, “As a former emergency room nurse, I cannot imagine what they are experiencing on the front lines right now.”
Chapman, Nebraska
Retired nurses are also answering individual states’ call for help. Nebraska TV spoke to 61-year-old Mary Steiner, a former emergency response nurse, has volunteered for the Central Nebraska Reserve Core. As she waits to put to use her training in natural disaster and emergency preparedness, Mary remarks, “If it’s something that becomes as serious as what’s going on in New York City right now… They’re wanting all hands on deck and so regardless of what my workplace setting has been in the past I know they’re going to be able to use me.”
