Student nurses are getting valuable first-hand experience dispensing the COVID-19 vaccine. In a time of need, AUSON students have stepped up to administer shots into arms and assisting with patient monitoring. Nursing students have been supporting faculty in vaccine and Sentinel testing clinics on campus and in the community. Here’s a quick look at how they are helping the community heal, bringing relief and hope.
"The Lee County Mass Vaccination clinic serves residents of Lee, Macon and Chambers counties," Clinical Placement Coordinator Hope Carroll said. “Students have been working there Monday–Friday, administering 1200 vaccines a day. Nearly 400 students will be rotating at this site for February and March. Both Southern Union School of Nursing and the Tuskegee University School of Nursing are assisting at this clinic, a great collaboration among the three nursing schools.”
Clinical Professor Kelly Strickland has been leading the Sentinel testing and vaccine clinic at the Coliseum which serves faculty, staff and students at Auburn University. Strickland has been assisted by 304 students at the clinic Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. “By Jan. 15, we had vaccinated 493 people and sentinel tested 250,” said Strickland. “These numbers came from clinics that were run through the combined efforts of nursing, pharmacy, and social work students.”
Auburn City Schools had 8 students vaccinating in their clinic for a day.
At the Alabama State Legislature in Montgomery, 36 students will be assisting with Sentinel testing and vaccine clinics on select Mondays and Tuesdays in Feb., March and April.
Lake Martin Community Hospital has 60 students helping administer vaccines for Tallapoosa county school systems and residents of Tallapoosa County on Fridays.
Winn Dixie pharmacy will see 14 students scheduled to assist in the vaccine clinics beginning Feb. 16.
“We have also had 40 students rotating at the AUSON vaccine clinic, held in the skills lab, administering vaccine to 88 people. AUSON has been very active in healing our community at various vaccine clinics. Quite often, individuals think that nurses only work in a hospital or in a doctor’s office. This pandemic has opened the general population’s eyes to just how important community nursing is,” Carroll said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), until a vaccine is widely available, the best course of action is to continue following public health measures — physical distancing, masking in public and good hand-washing hygiene — as those also break the virus transmission chain.
