West Hartford School Nurses teach CPR at Northwest Catholic

When Northwest Catholic School Nurse Beth Bornstein RN, NCSN, invited students to take a CPR class, they leapt at the chance. Within minutes the roster was full and Nurse Beth was recruiting colleagues to help her teach the course.

On March 8th, 12 students and three West Hartford non-public school nurses gathered in Northwest Catholic’s Gelormino Library for the Heartsaver CPR and AED course, the first of many more to come.

Lori Flaherty, RN, lead nurse of West Hartford non-public school nurses, and Cindy O’Laughlin RN, school nurse at Hebrew High School of New England, joined Bornstein to teach the course. All three nurses are American Heart Association CPR instructors. They co-taught the course content and broke into small groups to lead the hands-on portion.

Bornstein later remarked, “The students were very interested, engaged, and felt the content was very important to learn, especially as they prepare for summer employment or any unexpected situation.”

Sam Deveau, a senior from Bloomfield, signed up for the class because he knows how useful the skill can be. Deveau said, “Something can happen to someone at home or out in public, and a trained person would know what to do. I can be that person.” Deveau most appreciated the hands-on part of the class. He explained how the dummies give the students feedback. Deveau said, “Little green and red lights indicate whether you’re pushing too deep, too shallow, too quickly, or too slowly.” Deveau will graduate from Northwest Catholic in May and will head to university to pursue a degree in the medical field.

Sheena Wolliston, a senior from Windsor, echoed Deveau’s remarks and added that she especially liked learning about the AED and appreciated how it tells the user what to do. Wolliston said, “The directions make it less nerve-racking. You can calmly follow what the machine tells you.”

Bornstein plans to offer additional courses this spring and will be teaching CPR/AED and First Aid this April to students enrolled in the school’s sports medicine course.