糖心原创出品

Nursing faculty and their students from 糖心原创出品 (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, have joined the front lines in the fight against the global pandemic by working to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to recipients in six north Alabama counties.

鈥淭he 糖心原创出品 of Nursing (CoN) has always been invested in the community. In fact, community engagement and outreach is a major component of the CoN strategic plan,鈥� says Dr. Marsha Howell Adams, CoN dean and professor. 鈥淧roviding nursing support to North Alabama counties and academic institutions during this pandemic through the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine has been one of the most fulfilling clinical experiences our nursing students have had or will ever have.鈥�

鈥淚 am very proud of the work our students and instructors have done during this crisis period,鈥� adds Dr. Amelia Lanz, associate dean of undergraduate programs.

With much course work being done online and normal hospital clinicals temporarily on hold due to the virus, CoN administrators saw this project as an innovative way to provide their students with vital hands-on experience, while at the same time performing a life-giving service for people in Jackson, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall and Morgan counties.

鈥淲e were unable to go into the hospital, and so our dean was approached by the health department and asked if our students could participate in administering the COVID-19 vaccine,鈥� says Dr. Miranda Smith, a clinical instructor in the UAH CoN. 鈥淲e thought it would be a great service for our students to provide these communities, and so we started scheduling the students in our clinical groups to work with the health departments.鈥�

The vaccination experience was included as part of the clinical work in a course known as NUR 308: Nursing Care of Adults. Lead instructors in the UAH CoN organized the schedules for the inoculations and were responsible for overseeing students in small groups deployed throughout the region. For her part, Smith supervised the field work, assisted by Dr. Rebecca Davis, a clinical assistant professor, as well as clinical instructors Charles Reynolds and Amy Darnell.

鈥淚鈥檓 the manager of this course, and all three of these full-time faculty are on my team,鈥� Smith explains. 鈥淲e also have part-time clinical faculty as well as graduate teaching assistants participating in this initiative. Each of these faculty take a group of eight students to the county health departments, and they [the recipients] come to the health department to receive their vaccine.鈥�

鈥淗untsville Hospital has had so many COVID patients, that all nursing programs were not able to go into the hospital until February 15,鈥� Davis says, explaining why the UAH faculty had to think outside of the box to provide needed training for their students.

鈥淲e replaced a couple of weeks of clinicals with the COVID vaccinations so students could still get some patient interaction,鈥� Smith adds. 鈥淧retty much all of our students are really proficient at administering injections and other nursing skills. But this gave them a lot of interaction with people in the community, the health department and working with other health care professionals.鈥�

The faculty report that when their nursing students learned they were going out in the community to administer vaccines, they saw the experience as a wonderful opportunity to help out and did so without hesitation.

鈥淭he majority of them, from the feedback I got, liked working during the pandemic and felt it was their way of giving back to the community,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淭hey would say things like they were able to put a smile on a person鈥檚 face, that they were making a difference. Many of the people were elderly.鈥�

鈥淲e worked in small groups,鈥� Davis notes. 鈥淚n my group we got to vaccinate most of the teachers in Limestone county! We liked the opportunity to help make them safe, and the students liked that these teachers were having to take instructions for a change rather than giving them. They were having a lot of fun with it.鈥�

The students were involved in the prescreening, completing all the paperwork and performing the actual administration of the COVID vaccine. They also monitored each recipient for 15 minutes after they received their vaccination. In all, the student teams inoculated over 1,000 people seeking a dose.

鈥淎 couple of groups did more than 150 per day,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淲e were focusing on the above-70 population.鈥�

鈥淢y lowest day was maybe 50,鈥� Charles Reynolds chimes in. 鈥淗ow many got the vaccine all depended on the patient plan.鈥�

At times the workers found the response to the vaccination program to be almost overwhelming. The four instructors say that cars were backed up for miles in Morgan county alone.

鈥淪ometimes we had a batch of vaccine come in all at once, and we鈥檇 put the sign out that we were doing walk-ins, and then it would get crazy!鈥� Davis says.

鈥淚n Morgan county we were set up outside under a tent, and we would administer vaccines to people in their cars,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淏ut in Limestone county they had their own separate rooms, so that would dictate how many we could do a day. We鈥檇 go administer their injection in the car and monitor them. If they were older, we could do everything in the car, the pre-screening, the paperwork, administering the vaccine and then monitoring them.鈥�

All in all, there was plenty of hands-on interaction to go around and provide the students with valuable experience. Speaking of which, one might wonder what those first moments were like for the students giving their first injections. Were they nervous?

鈥淣ot really nervous, but it was a different environment, so they had to learn the protocol,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淣one of our students had ever administered vaccines before. At first it was just learning the steps, what do you do to make sure all the paperwork is correct, etc. They were scared of hurting the patient, but once they got the confirmation that it was okay, that helped. They鈥檇 say, 鈥楪ive me another one, give me another one!鈥� They really worked hard to track what time they got it, did I do this right, did I do the follow-up? And they took lots of pictures! They鈥檙e probably never going to experience anything like this ever again, so they were very excited.鈥�

鈥淭hey definitely had this sense of how this was going to go, but they didn鈥檛 let it stop them, thinking, I鈥檓 just going to make the best of it, do the best I can,鈥� Reynolds adds.

鈥淚 was more scared of doing the paperwork,鈥� Amy Darnell says. 鈥淏ut the director at the health department would say, 鈥榶ou鈥檒l be fine, you won鈥檛 mess anything up.鈥欌��

Davis smiles and says, 鈥淢ine mostly were saying things like, 鈥業 can鈥檛 believe we are doing this! We are actually helping to fight the pandemic!鈥欌��

The fact that many of the students were serving in their own communities across north Alabama became a special point of pride for the nursing students.

鈥淚t helped that there were lots of students from those areas. They live in those counties!鈥� Reynolds says. 鈥淪o when we went there, and they were able to do this where they lived, it gave them a sense of community building, thinking, I know some of these people! They are from my neighborhood.鈥�

The program has also had a special impact on just what it means to be a nurse and to train nurses in a time of challenges and uncertainty.

鈥淎 lot of them have become more gracious about what they are doing,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淭hey actually understood how people have to work together during times of crisis. We have become so fluid in the CoN. We just do what we have to do. Many of my students said to me, this has all made me realize as a nurse we have to be prepared for anything, and that teamwork and flexibility is so important!鈥�

And what has been the reaction of the people receiving the vaccine?

鈥淭he patients were grateful,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淭here were some who would cry. They loved having the students there. They would take pictures with them to save as mementos. They would say things like, 鈥榊ou didn鈥檛 hurt me.鈥� You could tell they were saying it to make us feel good. Every student said things like 鈥榯hat person left with a smile.鈥欌��

鈥淭hey told us things like a lot of people in their community have died from COVID-19,鈥� Davis notes. 鈥淭here were some really grateful people.鈥�

Considering all that has happened over the past year, one might ask how different has it been for these four as faculty compared to expectations they might have had in the past?

鈥淓verybody just kind of pitches in,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淲e did a lot of in-class activities anyway, so when we went totally online, all lectures were prerecorded, and we鈥檝e actually continued that in class. We do have high expectations for our nursing students. It鈥檚 just a different way of teaching for the students, but we鈥檝e had great feedback from what we鈥檝e been doing.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e always trying to adapt and be creative anyway,鈥� Davis explains. 鈥淪o it was different, but we鈥檙e always kind of practical in how can we provide all the learning experiences.鈥�

Do the instructors have any plans for helping with future vaccinations?

鈥淲e鈥檙e also going to be helping Alabama A&M and UAH on a volunteer basis to administer the vaccine,鈥� Smith says.

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