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UTC TAKES SPECIFIC STEPS TO KEEP CAMPUS SAFE
BY SHAWN RYAN
To 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”), 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 and faculty as very few have had to miss a significant number of clinical hours.
Among the other steps taken to ensure a safe campus for all students, faculty and staff are:
• $7.4 million invested in protections to ensure compliance with COVID-19 protocols.
• Metro classrooms, and skills labs were totally reconfigured to meet social distancing standards.
• Personal protective equipment was purchased for the nursing students and faculty in the event clinical sites did not have sufficient supplies.
• Students, faculty and staff were required to complete a person self-check each day as well as those for the clinical agencies in which they were assigned.
• Face masks are required at all times and in all places, whether student, faculty, staff or visitor.
• Anyone with a positive COVID test is placed in isolation for a minimum of 10 days.
• Anyone who has come in close contact with someone who tested positive is quarantined for 14 days.
• The School of Nursing offered three types of classes: face-to-face in classrooms with social distancing, online only and classes that are a combination of both.
• Students and faculty are required to disinfect classrooms and the labs after every time in the space, and extensive cleaning and disinfected protocols are in place across campus.
• Signs are posted around campus and in the Metro Building indicating how to maintain appropriate physical distance from others.
• All who come into Metro follow an entry and exit plan for each classroom.
• To limit elevator capacity, those on campus are asked to take the stairs if able.
• An online Dashboard of Open Cases, Closed Cases, Open Quarantine Cases and Closed Quarantine Cases is updated daily, Monday-Friday to keep the community informed.
Because of the tremendous efforts of the students, faculty and staff in the School of Nursing, and across campus, students were able to complete the Fall 2020 semester on campus and in their clinical sites. “We don’t know what the Spring will bring because of the resurgence of the virus, but we will be ready no matter what”, says Smith. “We had a great practice run in the Fall and worked through some issues. We will be able to handle whatever comes next. After all, we are educating those who will be responsible for helping us get through this pandemic and anything else that may come next so we can’t let up now.”
The Fall 2020 task force report can be found at: utc.edu/Fall-2020-TaskForce-Committee-Final-Report. +
