On April 23, members of the IRN, an Auburn University student organization, participated in a Wellness Fair in Opelika. The fair was hosted by the Bethel #1 Missionary Baptist Church of Opelika.
“Our organization was able to provide blood pressure and blood glucose screenings for participants,” said Maren Stiles, president of IRN. “We are honored to have been able to provide these screenings as well as health education to meet one of our goals of providing care to underrepresented populations in healthcare.”
Members who participated in this event were Maren Stiles, McKenzie Keeler, Kennedy Mason, Alicia Peralta, Jane Newberry, Allie Loehr, and Caroline Pocreva. “We would also like to thank Dr. Watts for helping us and providing the supplies for this event,” said Maren Stiles.
The IRN is interested in improving recruitment and retention of underrepresented populations in nursing. They aim to achieve this objective through community outreach, intercultural training and through professional development opportunities. Faculty advisors for IRN are Mrs. Kelly Strickland, Mr. Clay Young, Drs. Chris Martin and Katilya Ware.
“My fellow faculty advisors and I absolutely love working with these amazing students,” said Strickland. “They are passionate about fulfilling their mission through service and outreach to our community and surrounding counties. This semester alone they participated in an elementary school health fair teaching young children about the nursing profession. They provided health screenings for participants at the Wellness Fair in Opelika and at an AU Outreach Global event in Auburn. Additionally, the organization was nominated as a finalist in the 2022 Student Involvement Awards. They did all of this while maintaining very demanding nursing student schedules. We are so proud of their accomplishments, but prouder of who they are as people. Their mission to increase representation in the nursing profession is paramount and crucial to better serve our collective clients and communities. We look forward to their continued flourishing.”
Find more information on the IRN website at https://auburn.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/irn
