STILL (MOSTLY) THE SAME
NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED FOR STUDENTS IN CLINICALS BY SARAH JOYNER
D
“
iva Tran has just finished her second day of clinicals as a firsttime nursing student when she joins the Zoom session. She pauses long enough to flash a large smile before launching into her description of the past two days spent at CHI Memorial Hospital Hixson.
“It was amazing. Every single nurses, we can’t be like, ‘There’s a one of us loved it,” she says, pandemic. I’m just going to take I kept telling people referencing fellow first-level off.’ That’s not going to happen. I students in the class. feel like we definitely needed the that I was still going “We all learned something. exposure.” into nursing and they Yesterday we were trying to get Comparing the fall semester’s the gist of just being in that hallway, clinical experience to those in all seemed surprised, knowing where everything is, the past, more precautions are with everything going now in place, she says. Students learning to talk to the patients. Today was about being more wear goggles and N95 respiratory on. It’s pretty scary, comfortable and not doubting masks during their shift; they must but somebody’s got to remember each room they’ve been yourself.” But Tran, a native of Dayton, in for contact-tracing purposes, and do it.” Tennessee, admits that the months some patient rooms are off-limits. leading up to this moment hadn’t But overall, not a lot has changed, been so amazing. “Nerve-wracking” she says. is how she describes them. “I feel like, honestly, it’s the same “I kept telling people that I was still going into as before COVID-19 happened,” Germany says. “Our nursing and they all seemed surprised, with everything teachers know a little more about it. They’re making going on,” she explains. “It’s pretty scary, but sure we’re protected, and they’re protected.” somebody’s got to do it.” Tran transferred to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the spring after taking advantage of Tennessee Promise to earn a tuition-free associate’s degree from Chattanooga State Community College. She was knocking out her final prerequisites for the nursing program last spring when classes were moved online. Although she says the experience wasn’t all bad, she did not want to relive it in the fall and was nervous about what her first semester as a nursing student would look like. “I did not want to do nursing school online at all,” Tran explains. “So, I really appreciate that UTC did everything they could to keep us in class.” Fourth-level nursing student Chyna Germany, agrees. “I think we really need to be in a clinical setting,” Chyna Germany she says. “Because, realistically, when we become
”
UTC.EDU/NURSING
+
2020
ON CALL
11
