NURSING STUDENTS

SALUTE TO NURSES | NURSING STUDENTS Nursing students role is vital to coronavirus fight

BY ANGELINA MARTIN Turlock Journal

Nursing students at Stanislaus State returned to class in August, ready to roll up their sleeves and complete their education during a time when they’re needed most.

When the coronavirus pandemic first hit California in mid-March, many students who were enrolled in the university’s School of Nursing were close to graduating. Thanks to a campus shutdown and statewide stay-at-home orders that limited access to hospitals, the future nurses worried they wouldn’t be able to complete the necessary inperson clinical hours needed to earn their pin in May.

According to School of Nursing Director Mary Jo Stanley, that’s when three area hospitals stepped in to help. Stanislaus State worked with Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, Doctor’s Medical Center in Modesto and St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton, which all helped students close to graduating complete their needed clinical hours. When it came time to graduate, no student was held back.

“We have the most amazing community stakeholders and facilities who really support not only the nursing program, but our students. They’ve done a lot to keep students in their facilities,” Stanley said.

Nursing students have been serving on the frontlines, with many helping public health complete contact tracing for confirmed coronavirus cases. Without an adequate number of tracers, public health can fall behind on accurately counting positive cases and their work to stop the rapid spread of COVID-19.

“The students thought it was really cool because they had never stepped into that part of public health, which was really in a bind because they needed a lot of contact tracing. They didn’t have enough nurses to do it because they were busy with everything else,” Stanley said. “Our students were a good fit.”

Students also helped public health care for ill and at-risk members of the local homeless population, who had been given a place to stay in order to be protected from the virus. In addition, students also worked in clinics and in the hospitals — a firsthand experience like no other during a year like no other.

Nursing students going to school during a pandemic may seem to have a leg up on others when it comes to dealing with real world problems, but at the end of the day their mission is the same: help the community. Professors have utilized rapidly-changing information in their lectures, while students have had to adapt on the go while working in clinical settings.

“I think our students are of service. They aren’t there to be a burden; they need to learn and are truly there to help. I think that’s what makes this work for us is that our local agencies

Photo contributed

Stanislaus State’s nursing cohorts are making a significant contribution to public health during the pandemic.

recognize that here and we have that small, community feel,” Stanley said.

Graduates of Stanislaus State’s School of Nursing have also gone on to make an impact during the pandemic, like Arnold Velasquez, who was part of the first graduating class from the university’s family nurse practitioner master’s program in December 2019. Just a few months later, Velasquez was on his way to New York to help the state as its healthcare system was taxed by the coronavirus.

“I think our students are really driven to serve. I think they want to make a difference and I think they want to be impactful in their communities. That’s why most people want to be nurses,” Stanley said. “There are some tough days and you have to be strong...but that’s why our students do it well, because they’re in it for the right reasons.”

This semester, campus is still closed at Stanislaus State for all but 52 courses. That includes some nursing classes, but only those which require labs and simulations — paramount activities to ensure nurses are prepared upon graduating. Rather than 75 percent, nursing students must complete 50 percent of their clinical hours with the remaining time supplemented by virtual experiences. Stanislaus State continues to work with local hospitals to make sure students are learning and kept safe while doing so.

When students arrived for their first fall classes of the semester — masks on their faces and sanitizer in tow — Stanley said they seemed more motivated than ever.

“It was exciting to see them back because they really weren’t intimidated, they weren’t afraid. This isn’t stopping them and they don’t see this as a barrier to being a nurse,” Stanley said. “This is what nursing is about...This is what we do.”