By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
What could be more fun than taking your own pulse or performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a Resusci Anne? How about the chance to learn more about the flow of blood or how to stop a wound from bleeding?
Students from around the county elected to spend two of their summer day learning about nursing as a career. Those two days were filled with numerous immersive learning experiences at College of the Mainland (COM).
Chloie, who will be in ninth grade at Dickinson High School, looked to be shutting out everything but the task at hand as she watched an animated childbirth through simulator goggles.
“I want to be a labor and delivery nurse, and watching gave me a feeling of, ‘Is this what I really want to do?’ And I felt like ‘yes,’” Chloie said.
Debra Bauer, Director of Nursing Programs at COM instructed the students using an Anatomage Table, which is a learning tool designed to teach human anatomy through virtual dissection. Many of the students were fluent in their knowledge of human anatomy and responded quickly to Bauer’s questions and directions.
In another room of the nursing college, students were being introduced to CPR.
Deosha Anderson, a nursing instructor at COM, led the CPR session. In her sessions, students learned how to take a pulse as a first step in CPR.
She explained to students the required ratio of 30 compressions for every two breaths administered. She demonstrated proper positioning of the victim’s head and neck before CPR was administered along with other details of the importance of CPR.
Then the students were invited to begin administering CPR to a Resusci Anne. At the end of their first round, they commented on how tiring the experience was.
A dialogue ensued about how the circumstances surrounding administration of CPR in the real world can vary. Sometimes you trade off with another person, and sometimes you may be alone with a victim, or you may be the only person who can administer CPR. Thus, it’s important to keep going regardless of your fatigue.
In the next round, Anderson led the students in a possible real-life situation where they completed six sets of the 30-to-two ratio of CPR’s life-saving steps.
“I’m gonna need a little more practice,” one of the students said in response to Anderson’s follow-up question regarding their session.
“The session is only intended to be an introduction,” Anderson assured the students.
Anderson shared with the students about her own journey as a nurse and then progressing to teaching nursing and very recently she completed her Doctorate in the field of nursing. The students listened attentively and cheered for her when they learned about her Doctorate.
This was the second year of COM’s summer nursing camp for high school students, and COM plans to make the camp a yearly tradition. Other learning sessions provided information about taking vital signs, stopping the bleed, and administering NARCAN.
Renée Omoyeni, founder, and director of Compass RN, helps colleges in the region by connecting high school students with colleges that host nursing camps like the one at COM.
“Compass RN continues to follow up with the students, offering mentors and guidance until they graduate with a degree in nursing,” Omoyeni explained
Nursing shortages are on the rise, Bauer explained, and reaching out to a younger age group has shown to be an effective way to help encourage more students to go into nursing.
Bauer is enthusiastic about the nursing program at COM, and she hopes to increase awareness of COM’s nursing program through the summer camp.
“We’re trying to cast the net out and let everyone know what an awesome profession (nursing) is and what a great program we have here at College of the Mainland. We’re accredited. “We are a quality program, very affordable,” Bauer said. “We have faculty that cares and small class sizes.”
COM offers a four-year nursing degree, and financial assistance is available. The summer nursing camp at COM is provided at no cost to the young participants.
