{"id":178985,"date":"2021-11-09T07:30:35","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T12:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=178985"},"modified":"2023-06-27T12:42:36","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T16:42:36","slug":"nursing-covid-vaccine-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2021\/11\/nursing-covid-vaccine-initiatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Nursing Faculty and Students Administer Nearly 1,600 COVID-19 Vaccines at Over 90 Community Initiatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

You need two things in order to vaccinate an entire population: enough vaccines and enough health care workers to administer them.<\/p>\n

In early 2021, as COVID-19 vaccine production ramped up, hospitals, community health centers, and other health care facilities in Connecticut desperately needed more hands to staff their vaccination clinics. Luckily, UConn School of Nursing was ready and eager to step in.<\/p>\n

Throughout the spring and summer of this year, School of Nursing students and faculty participated in over 90 vaccination-related initiatives. The School partnered with community health centers, such as Charter Oak Health Center in Hartford and Norwalk Community Health Center, and assisted in administering nearly 1,600 vaccines.<\/p>\n

\"Nursing
School of Nursing students partnered with community volunteers at Charter Oak Health Center’s vaccine clinic at Christ Church of Deliverance in Hartford on May 22. (Submitted photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI am incredibly proud of our students and faculty,\u201d Dean Deborah Chyun says. \u201cThis is a historic time and they did not shy away from volunteering to help others become protected from the virus. Communities are safer and healthier now, and I am honored that the School had even a small role in making that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over 70 School of Nursing students participated in the vaccine clinics, along with 15 faculty members. Many said it was a life-changing experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis experience gave me new perspectives about my role as a future nurse,\u201d Neyssa Jean Michel \u201922 (NUR) says. \u201cListening to the patients\u2019 opinions about what we help accomplish made me realize that I am making an impact on each of them and on the community. My role as a future nurse will not only be to care for them and be an advocate, but I\u2019m also responsible to make the patients\u2019 experience, stay, or visit as positive and as smooth as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to the leadership of Associate Dean Angela Starkweather, students first became involved in vaccination outreach in January<\/a>, when UConn Health began vaccinating their front-line workers. Around 20 students administered vaccines in the hospital\u2019s Keller lobby and observed patients for any adverse reactions.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt felt good to be doing something to help after a year of feeling helpless against the virus. I felt like I was a part of something bigger that was making a difference.\u201d — Kimberly Diaz \u201921 (NUR)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That clinic was just the beginning. By early spring, as vaccination appointments became available to more and more people in Connecticut, the School hired Michelle Cole as community outreach liaison to work with Starkweather and help coordinate with area health care providers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAngela and Michelle have been vital to our outreach efforts,\u201d Chyun says. \u201cThey have done a phenomenal job finding out which facilities need more hands to administer vaccines and rallying our students accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the important partnerships that developed between the School of Nursing and Hartford\u2019s Charter Oak Health Center was spearheaded by Neuro-immunology Nurse Practitioner Marina A. Creed \u201917 MS, from the UConn Health Multiple Sclerosis Center in the Department of Neurology. Creed brought together the School of Nursing\u2019s and the School of Medicine\u2019s Urban Service Track\/AHEC Scholars Program students, along with staff from Charter Oak Health Center, to help protect disenfranchised, vulnerable patients from the virus through expanded access to vaccines. School of Nursing faculty and students volunteered at many of Charter Oak\u2019s clinics throughout the spring and summer. Some locations included Christ Church of Deliverance, Dunkin\u2019 Donuts Park, and others.<\/p>\n

Connecticut opened the nation\u2019s first FEMA Mobile Vaccination Unit at the end of March<\/a>, and UConn Health was one of the four health systems in the state selected to provide clinical oversight and staffing. UConn Health, in turn, asked the School of Nursing to lead two specific days: April 30 in Dayville and May 4 in Willimantic.<\/p>\n

\"Christ<\/a>
Christ Church 4_24_2021<\/div><\/div>\"Charter<\/a>
Charter Oak 3_27_2021<\/div><\/div>\"Charter<\/a>
Charter Oak Drive thru 3_27_21<\/div><\/div>\"student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8997\"<\/a>
student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8997<\/div><\/div>\"Norwalk<\/a>
Norwalk Community Health Center<\/div><\/div>\"Trinity<\/a>
Trinity Health from Laura Eiss<\/div><\/div>\"CEIN<\/a>
CEIN students Charter Oak 05_2021<\/div><\/div>\"Charter<\/a>
Charter Oak Clinic 5.22.21 2<\/div><\/div>\"Charter<\/a>
Charter Oak Clinic 5.22.21 crop<\/div><\/div>\"Charter<\/a>
Charter Oak_5_2021<\/div><\/div>\"student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8980\"<\/a>
student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8980<\/div><\/div>\"student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8964\"<\/a>
student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8964<\/div><\/div>\"Charter<\/a>
Charter Oak_5_2021_2<\/div><\/div>\"student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8986\"<\/a>
student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8986<\/div><\/div>\"Clinic<\/a>
Clinic 4_29_2021<\/div><\/div>\"Door-to-Door<\/a>
Door-to-Door clinic Hartford 8_2021<\/div><\/div>\"Norwalk<\/a>
Norwalk Community Health Center 6_12_2021<\/div><\/div>\"student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8971\"<\/a>
student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8971<\/div><\/div>\"student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8977\"<\/a>
student-nurses-covid-vaccine-20210108-TE-8977<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>