UTC takes specific steps to
KEEP CAMPUS SAFE BY SHAWN RYAN
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o be able to offer a program that requires a great deal of one to one student and faculty work takes a good deal of planning in a normal academic year. Knowing that, the School of Nursing administrators were unsure if students would be able to return to campus for the 2020 Fall Semester because of the impact of COVID-19. In March, an all-out assault on the virus began. With more than five months of planning with multiple meetings every day, and thousands of hours spent on writing an implementation plan, the school became more and more sure the students could return. In addition to the implementation team whose sole charge was to get the campus ready, Dawn Ford, executive director for the Walker Center for Teaching and Learning, was asked to serve as the chief epidemiologist, while Yasmine Key, director of University Health and faculty in the School of Nursing was tapped to lead the testing and patient management response. Chris Smith, director of the School of Nursing and chief health affairs officer split her time between the school and managing the team whose sole purpose was to keep students, faculty and staff safe on campus. “A key part of our COVID response plan is contact tracing in coordination with the Hamilton County Health Department,” said Ford. “To conduct contact tracing efficiently, we have recruited and trained many UTC volunteers and hired staff to investigate positive cases 7 days a week to ensure a safe campus environment.” The senior students in their Community Health course served as contact tracers with the guidance of Susan Thul (see related story on “Contact Tracing”),
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associate professor in the graduate studies faculty. They also administered flu shots to the campus community. Other students in the school volunteered with the county health department and at local churches to give the immunizations working with Clinical Assistant Professor LaTisha Toney, Senior Lecturer Kelli Hand and Clinical Assistant Professor Brooke Epperson. Key reports that University Health Services has significantly increased its testing efforts and “is providing COVID-19 testing with a quick turnaround, which has been important to minimize the time missed at work or school as well as to quickly identify community members who may need to be isolated or quarantined.” This has benefitted some faculty and students who have been exposed to COVID-19 through clinical experiences. Smith adds that quarantining for 14 days or more can significantly impact the students’ time in their clinical experiences. Having testing available to all students and faculty on campus with results in 24-48 hours has been very positive for our students UTC.EDU/NURSING
