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For nursing student Shannon Kelley, fall semester 2020 offered real-world experience that no one could have imagined. In the midst of a pandemic, she and nearly 70 other students helped provide on-campus COVID-19 testing to gain the clinical experience they needed as part of their coursework.

“It was super cool to have this experience,” Kelley said. “COVID limited the amount of time we could go into the hospital for clinical, so this gave me the opportunity to work with our staff, teachers and the students as well.” In addition to collecting specimens, Kelley said she learned how to deal with patients. “Some were nervous, so we had to be really thorough about explaining things,” she said. “So we gained communication skills as well as learning things ourselves.”

The nursing students worked under the direction of Dr. Linda Connelly, associate clinical professor, who teaches the nursing practice class, and Dr. Doreen Perez, COVID Health Coordinator and adjunct professor. Perez called it a “win-win” for the University and the students. “We really couldn’t do this without the nursing students,” Perez said. “The Health Department doesn’t have the staff. So ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ×ÊÁÏ is getting the healthcare professionals they need, and the nursing students are getting the clinical experience they need.”

The student workers rotated the schedule so that four to seven were available each day. Each week, they were testing about 400 to 600 people. In total, during 18 weeks of testing, Connelly, Perez and the students completed 7,090 tests. Testing is again underway for the spring semester with a new class of nursing students. All students living on-campus were required to be tested.

Safety is a top priority, and nursing students are required to wear gowns, N95 face masks, face shields and gloves. “They have every possible personal protective equipment, and they have to wear it,” Perez said. Students also handle some clerical work, such as labeling and reports, and then gather at the end of the clinic to share what they did in the clinic and what they learned. “They are learning how to care for people in a community during a pandemic, something you can’t read about in a book,” Perez said. “This is really handson information.”

Perez and Connelly work together to oversee the nurses in training and fill in whenever needed. Connelly said she was concerned because she anticipated not being able to take her class to clinics they would typically visit in the community. The testing, then, definitely has been a plus. “They are learning critical thinking skills. And they are talking to peers, which I think is pretty special. This is really students helping students. I tell them that we are living history. For all of us, this is the first time we have lived through a pandemic, so we are making history as we live.”

Looking ahead, everyone is anticipating the arrival of the vaccine. “Depending on the availability of the vaccine, it would be ideal to vaccinate students before the end of the spring semester before they return home,” Perez said. Though she anticipates that Student Health Services would be the point of contact for the vaccine distribution, student nurses would likely be needed to assist with vaccinations as well.