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ccclarion.com VOL LXXIV • Issue 3
Wednesday, October 28 , 2020
Nursing program resumes onsite BY LUCY ARGAEZ
NEWS EDITOR
LARGAEZ@CCCLARION.COM
The sounds of the alarm blaring at 5 a.m. as she gets out of bed and gets dressed. Chloe Haskin brushes her hair and pulls it into a bun. She makes her coffee and feeds her cats before taking the drive down Arrow Highway to Foothill Presbyterian Hospital. Waits until she sees her classmates arrive one by one and meets with her professor, until their N95 masks, face shields, and gloves are handed to them. Associate degree nursing student Haskin is one of the students who have returned to campus and is now starting training at a hospital. Haskin then puts on her royal blue scrubs, her white lab coat, her name tag and her stethoscope. After walking down to the basement of the hospital to have a pre-conference before going on the hospital floor. Haskin looks at her watch and sees it is 7 a.m. now, she meets with a nurse and receives her patient reports she then checks up on her patients every hour and does her paperwork. At 1 p.m., it’s time for Haskin to report to her professor and give her patient report and leave for the day. Martha Delgadillo, Noemi Barajas and Sonia Kibbe will be some of the instructors on campus and hospitals overseeing the student’s skills labs and training. Students will also have their temperature taken on arrival and fill out a questionnaire to ensure they have not contracted COVID-19. “I work better hands-on and with others than in virtual labs, I don’t know that I would do as well if labs weren’t in person,” first-year ADN student Tricia Kyle said. Although instructors have done
PHOTO COURTESY - SALIMA ALLAHBACHAYO, DEAN OF HEALTH SCIENCES
Nursing trainees practice patient care that they will provide in real clinics when they are registered. Photo taken Sept. 14.
their best to engage and teach remotely, they are glad to be back on campus and in hospitals. “I am very excited we were given the opportunity to go back into the skills labs so students could practice with their hands. It is just not the same online,” Delgadillo said. ADN students will alternate between the hospitals and campus every four weeks until the end of the semester. They will either be on campus or in hospitals every Monday and Tuesday. Director of health sciences Salima Allahbachayo will be managing the student’s training hours, ensuring students follow safety measures. “We want to make sure the program abides by the government guidelines, so we set up several safety protocols to make sure we met the requirements to go back on campus,” Allahbachayo said. ADN Students will attend one of the hospitals partnered with Citrus College, either Intercommunity Hospital, Foothill Presbyterian
PHOTO COURTESY - SALIMA ALLAHBACHAYO, DEAN OF HEALTH SCIENCES
A nursing student in the Skills Lab practices on a dummy in preparation for her future as a health-care provider. Photo taken on Sept. 14.
“I work better hands-on and with others than in virtual labs. I don’t know that I would do as well if labs weren’t in person.”
Tricia Kyle
First-year Associates Degree in Nursing student Hospital, Pomona Valley Hospital or Corona Regional Medical Center. The ADN students led by Barajas will go to Intercommunity Hospital in Covina and Delgadillo’s students will go to Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in Glendora. “This experience was a little shocking for some of our firstyear students since it was the first time some of them set foot in a hospital,” Barajas said. Barajas said the experience served “as a reality check” for some of her students and made them feel more at ease by pairing up inexperienced with experienced students to work as a unit. Third and fourth-year ADN students will attend Pomona Valley Hospital and the Corona
Regional Medical Center and taught by Kibbe. “My students are alternating between virtual clinical labs and seven to eight weeks at the hospitals,” Kibbe said. First-year students focus on primary patient care and headto-toe assessments, while senior students are responsible for medication, injections and IVs in addition to basic patient care. “We don’t get assigned COVID-19 patients, but we always run the risk of contracting it since we are at a hospital,” Delgadillo’s student Gloria Sayegh said. Delgadillo said that the training will prepare students for their profession because they will interact with infected patients in a real-life setting and run the risk of
becoming infected as nurses. “I have first-hand experience with having COVID and taking care of patients with COVID, I can get COVID again according to the research, but I am not afraid,” Delgadillo said. Nurses during the pandemic have an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, but following the proper safety protocols will reduce that risk. “I feel like it’s here and we have to attend to it and that’s what nurses and healthcare workers are trained to do, so long as we practice proper hygiene and take this serious to its fullest extent, we reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19,” she said. While there are risks in returning to hospital training, many students like Haskin are excited to be around their peers and help people. “It’s really great being able to help the people who need it and being around like-minded people and even making friends,” Haskin said.
All sports postponed Measure Y benefits campus until spring 2021 BY DAISY MARTINEZ
STAFF REPORTER
DMARTINEZ@CCCLARION.COM
BY JUSTIN GEORGE
STAFF REPORTER
JGEORGE@CCCLARION.COM
The California Community College Athletic Association’s Board of Directors has unanimously decided to postpone all Fall athletics to Spring of 2021. The decision was made to protect the health of student-athletes and coaches. A Contingency Plan released by the CCCAA had initially allowed non-contact athletics such as cross country and golf to begin in the Fall, but the plan has since been revised so that all athletics would return in the Spring. Some athletics may start as early as January if state and local health ordinances rule it safe to do so. The diversion from the normal athletics schedule has affected approximately 24,000 studentathletes across CCCAA’s 110 member colleges. Head football coach Ron
Ponciano explains the challenges this decision has created for the Citrus College Owls. “I think it would benefit the student-athletes just getting them back on campus” said Ponciano, “It is the starting point of them getting their daily routine done.” Ponciano adds that with some states already practicing, there is a possibility of a training gap when the team is finally allowed to compete. He said hypothetically that “a football game with one team that’s been practicing for several months” and a “team that’s been brought together four weeks ago” would be highly unfair. Despite the doubts and challenges, Ponciano remains hopeful. “I choose to stay optimistic, and I choose to believe that my guys aren’t giving up on their future.” Head cross country coach Alan Waddington believes that there
Read Sports, Page 4
& JUSTIN GEORGE STAFF REPORTER
JGEORGE@CCCLARION.COM
Major improvements could be coming to the Citrus College campus if voters approve Measure Y in the Nov. 3 general election. Measure Y— the Citrus College Career Education, Repair, Affordable Higher Education Measure— is a $298 million bond measure proposed by the Citrus College Board of Trustees to the County of Los Angeles. The measure’s vote is only applicable in the Citrus College District. The measure would fund facility improvements such as meeting earthquake and fire safety standards, removing lead paint and replacing outdated utilities. It would also fund upgrades to classrooms and laboratories used for career education programs. “It will give more opportunity
SARAH ADAMS - PHOTOGRAPHY STUDENT
An aerial view of the Citrus College campus in May 2018.
for students to give them realworld experience,” Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services Claudette Dain said. Some of the more substantial improvements consist of new facilities altogether. Some buildings they plan to change include the Veterans Success Center, Learning Resource Center and Library which would be demolished and replaced with
modern facilities. The Education and Facilities Master Plan describes the improvements the new measure would tackle. Citrus Superintendent/ President Geraldine Perri described the EFMP process as having begun in fall 2018 with a “thorough environmental scan and an examination of enrollment
Read Perks, Page 4