Nursing Students Volunteer at Community Flu Clinic

NMU nursing students who volunteered at Tuesday's community flu clinic at the Superior Dome received a dual dose of hands-on experience in both mass inoculations and disaster preparedness training. Pictured at left are seniors enrolled in a community health clinic course taught by Bitsy Wedin (Nursing, far right).

The Marquette County Health Department, which sponsored the event, had about 4,000 doses available for $25 each. They vaccinated most residents in a walk-up format in the Superior Dome, but also administered some shots to people in their vehicles.

"Our group ended up being assigned to a variety of tasks: registration all over the dome; education during the recommended 10-minute, post-vaccination wait time; drive-through vaccination draw-up and survey; drive-through registration; and inside crowd control."

Wedin said there were two other NMU nursing groups at the event. MaeBelle Erickson's pediatric clinic class and Michelle Johnson's LPN students were involved in giving shots.

"The health department contacted me seeking volunteers," Wedin said. "I suggested that we allow the nursing students to participate and they thought it was a great idea. It's good preparation for their careers because this wasn't just a flu inoculation; it also tested response capabilities in the event of an emergency. Marquette had never done something like that before so it was a unique opportunity. About half of the seniors in my class volunteered to help."

One of those seniors, Emily Steadman, explained why she chose to participate: "I got involved with this because it was a good way to help the community, and because some people don't realize the importance of flu shots," said senior Emily Steadman.