HEARTBEAT OF HEALTHCARE

Nursing students impact the community in the middle of a pandemic

The Department of Nursing at Huntington University has always placed a strong emphasis on clinical learning. From patient simulation rooms in Dowden Science Hall to clinical rotations in local hospitals, HU nursing students are used to encountering real-life scenarios that challenge them to put what they have learned to work.

In 2020, however, nursing students encountered a real-world experience they likely did not anticipate: an international pandemic.

Students were soon learning firsthand the importance of flexibility in nursing practice. But as they collaborated with members of the community, advocated for public health, and assisted with care and prevention, they were also able to see firsthand the incredible importance of nursing as a serviceoriented career.

The impact the Department of Nursing has had on the campus community and the greater Huntington County community during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult to truly measure, but here is a quick list: • Faculty and students conducted on-campus

COVID-19 testing and worked at the campus vaccination clinic

• Faculty and students administered vaccines in the community in conjunction with the Huntington

County Health Department

• Students actively cared for patients in the acute care setting

• Students worked with the Huntington County

Community School Corporation to identify the effects of remote learning and social isolation and potential mental health issues in school-age students and develop programming to promote positive mental health

• HU students and faculty, including two nursing students and one nursing faculty member, represented HU in Interfaith Youth Core’s (IYFC’s) Faith in the Vaccine program to increase vaccine education and resources for peers and community members