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Nursing Students Part of Hawaii’s COVID Vaccination Efforts

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One vaccine at a time, Hawaii is beating back COVID-19.

And Chaminade University is proud to be part of the effort.

Working with community healthcare partners, the University has deployed senior Nursing students to clinics on O‘ahu to administer COVID-19 vaccines.

Dr. Lynn Babington, Chaminade President, said the project underscores the University’s public service mission and its commitment to build a healthier Hawai‘i. “Being part of the community and being able to serve our community is part of our mission,” she said, adding that the vaccines are a “light at the end of a long tunnel” and offer hope that many of the activities we used to consider normal will soon be resumed. She said it’s heartening to see students play a key role in “helping to bring the pandemic under control.”

Dr. Lorin Ramocki, Chaminade University School of Nursing and Health Professions Assistant Professor and clinical/academic partnership coordinator, said the students giving vaccinations are seniors in their Public Health Nursing rotation. To prepare for the challenge, they participated in mock clinics on campus, studied CDC and facility training modules, and attended on-site orientations.

The students will be administering vaccines through the duration of vaccination efforts.  

Nursing senior, Serina Lipman, is among those serving as vaccinators. She said she feels incredibly fortunate to participate in a vaccination clinic and do her part to stop the spread of COVID-19. “It felt humbling knowing that we were out in the community making a difference,” she said.

Lipman added her training and preparation at Chaminade helped her feel up to the challenge.

“Through this experience, I have learned about how much effort and planning it takes to set up a massive vaccination clinic,” she said. “This experience was one of the best I have had throughout school and I hope that I get the opportunity to continue to vaccinate even after graduation.”

Dr. Rhoberta Haley, School of Nursing and Health Professions Dean, said the vaccination project highlights the importance of experiential learning and strong partnerships in the community. “For our nursing students to play a role in the State’s vaccination efforts not only strengthens our partnerships with healthcare organizations, it gives our students additional first-hand experience,” Haley said.

Ramocki said the vaccination clinics are powerful educational experiences, offering students a strong appreciation of the value of focusing on population health, and of the role of community education and disaster response during periods of disease outbreak. “By participating in these efforts, they will be able to make the connection between what they are learning in the classroom and the importance of these topics,” Ramocki said. “They get to be a part of these efforts during one of the greatest public health crises in our lifetime. This is what public health nursing is all about, responding to and meeting the needs of the community.”

Bridging the Age Gap

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Relationships are one of the critical ingredients in our happiness and wellbeing—bonding not only with partners and peers, but also with those spanning different ages.

Nursing students participating in their service learning project with Purpose Pals

Thirty-two Chaminade nursing students did just that by connecting with kūpuna through Purpose Pals, a pilot program designed to foster friendships across generations through the click of a mouse.

“The biggest takeaway from our talks was that I don’t know everything there is to life,” says freshman Kaylen Fernandez. “My kūpuna gave valuable advice in balancing work-life, and the importance of enjoying what you do. If you don’t love it, then it’s time for a change.”

Engaging across generations, benefits kūpuna and helps students learn and grow as healthcare professionals.

“This experience provides the nursing students with a more positive attitude toward aging,” says Purpose Pal organizer Dr. Christy Nishita. “In their future careers, many of their patients will be from our oldest age groups. We hope this experience gives them awareness and empathy toward kūpuna that translates to better care.”

Connectedness is important now more than ever, especially since COVID has created social isolation. With an increase of loneliness and stress, Purpose Pals has played a critical role in helping kūpuna stay socially active.

Purpose Pals was made available through a service learning project in Dr. Edna Magpantay-Monroe’s NUR 200 Introduction to Nursing Concepts course. The project not only provided students with an experiential learning opportunity but also forged meaningful relationships with their kūpuna. Many have been inspired to stay in touch with their pals beyond the commitment of the project.

Students’ participation in the pilot program has provided a number of key insights for Purpose Pal’s development and capacity building. The goal is to continue to attract new volunteers each semester and continue Chaminade’s mission serving the community and being an active participant in it.

Pivoting During a Pandemic

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In early March, Alyssa Nagai was living a good life. The 2015 Chaminade alumna would work her nursing shifts at Maui Memorial Medical Center, and always enjoyed coming home to her little dog who would jump on her as soon as she walked through the door. She loved living on Maui, and it was an easy and short flight to see her family back home in Oahu.

She felt comfortable at her job. Her time at Chaminade had prepared her well, and had given her the skills and knowledge she needed to be successful.

But nothing could have prepared her for what came next.

Alyssa Nagai in her face mask

“The nursing and the schooling part of Chaminade definitely prepared me to be a nurse,” says Nagai. “But I don’t know if anyone was really ready for a pandemic to hit.”

When COVID-19 made its way to the Islands, overnight her days became longer and her job became a lot scarier.

Her hospital floor was quickly turned into a COVID unit, and chaos ensued. Policies and procedures kept changing—no one really knew what to expect or what to do. The disease was still so new and unpredictable. 

“It was really scary,” says Nagai. “I think every day, or sometimes every hour, things were changing when it came to PPE, or just everything. Policies kept changing and it was really frustrating.”

Her unit converted into a closed unit, meaning team members weren’t allowed to come and go from the floor. It also meant nurses were doing total care for their patients, without help from nurse aides and patient care specialists.

It made for really long, emotionally draining days.

“You see what people are going through, and it’s scary on their end too,” says Nagai. “It was hard emotionally, for everyone.”

Alyssa Nagai and her co-workers

It was particularly hard when she saw her coworkers fall ill. “We all kind of saw this coming, we knew that we had the risk of getting sick,” says Nagai. “But it’s scary because you see these people every day and you can’t really help it.”

It was also lonely. For Nagai, the hardest part was staying away from the people she loved and cared about.

“I’d be afraid to hang out with people, and I knew they were afraid to see me too, because no one knew if they had it.”

When she would return home from her shift, she’d immediately shower off and try to stay away from people as much as possible. “I’d try to shower before my little dog would jump on me,” recalls Nagai. “You just feel dirty coming out of there.”

Nagai felt good about what she was doing. She knew she was helping. But she wasn’t sure other people saw it that way. Fears and anxieties were high all around the Island. It didn’t help hearing stories of how people were treating other healthcare professionals, like the story she heard about a nurse who went to the grocery store and had things thrown at her.

Now that COVID numbers have begun to slow down in Hawaii, Nagai’s unit is mostly back to normal. “There are still some changes in place, like the break rooms are different. We can’t be around a bunch of people anymore.”

Nagai has a positive outlook on what the future brings. She’s hopeful there won’t be too much of a second wave, and she’s enjoying the new teamwork and collaboration that has come out of the hospital. Everyone seems to have a new perspective and appreciation for everyone else now.

“When we were doing total care for our patients, I gained a whole new perspective on what nurse aides do,” admits Nagai. “It feels really good to be back to normal (or the “new normal).”