Montclair State University: School Of Nursing Volunteers Give Shots Of Hope

Press release from Montclair State University:

February 25, 2021

School of Nursing Volunteers Give Shots of Hope

Students, staff help administer injections with the COVID-19 vaccination rollout

Posted in: Nursing, University

Students and faculty in the School of Nursing volunteer at state’s vaccination rollout.

The School of Nursing has answered the call for health-care professionals trained to administer COVID-19 vaccines. In a new partnership with Essex County and the West Orange Health Department, Montclair State nursing students and staff are volunteering at one of the county’s large-scale immunization centers and on a more personal level, helping register seniors and the disabled for appointments and giving shots to the homebound.

Associate Professor Courtney Reinisch is coordinating the School of Nursing’s response, adding COVID-19 volunteer hours into the senior practicum with the support of Dean Janice Smolowitz. “In order to return to our lives, we need to get the global population inoculated,” Reinisch says. “I thought this was a great opportunity for students and faculty to respond locally and give back to the community.”

Mark Rodrigues, left, sets up an Essex County vaccination station, while Theresa Migliaccio prepares to administer the Moderna vaccine.

Among the nursing students giving of their time is Theresa Migliaccio, a mother of five who balances family life with her classwork and weekend hours as a registered nurse at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. Juggling it all during the pandemic has been difficult, she admits. “You definitely learn your resilience and your limitations.”

But taking on even more as a volunteer at the vaccination clinic has actually eased her stress. “It’s made the pandemic not as devastating because at least I feel I’m doing something to help.”

RN to BSN students Jiwon Woo and Danica Arcena volunteer at Essex County site.

On a recent shift at the Essex County immunization center in West Orange, New Jersey, Migliaccio was teamed with Mark Rodrigues – both are RNs set to graduate this spring from Montclair State’s RN to BSN program. As they prepared their makeshift vaccination room, they precisely readied syringes, making sure not to waste a single drop of the vaccine.

Throughout the country, inoculating people has been hampered by vaccine shortages and a complicated registration process, but Essex County’s response has been a bright spot in the rollout. Inside the former Kmart store in West Orange, any thoughts of the challenges people may have had getting their appointment are forgotten as they receive their shots of hope, Migliaccio says. “They cry, they’re overwhelmed and they’re so thankful.”

RN to BSN student Valentina Valencia volunteers.

Rodrigues, who worked as an electrician before a career change to nursing, says volunteering has taken him out of his pandemic comfort zone. “Occasionally you go out for your shopping, but everything is so methodical about how you spend your time outside,” he says.

At the vaccination center, he has a system for the way he sets up equipment, organizing Band-Aids and alcohol wipes in groups of 10 to match the number of doses in each vial. “We want to be prepared so we can more fluidly deal with patients,” he says. Rodrigues has a gentle rapport to ease any anxiety people may be feeling. Often, they haven’t even realized they’ve been given the injection.

The coordinated efforts pay off as the classmates inoculated more than 100 people on their shift, about 10% of all the Moderna doses given that day. “It’s exceptionally rewarding,” Rodrigues says, “knowing we are putting people on track for getting back some sort of normalcy.”

Their experience illustrates how Montclair State’s nursing faculty and students are engaged in the campaign to inoculate against the virus. Essex County has five vaccination sites spread across the county and the School of Nursing is joining in the effort to vaccinate citizens by volunteering in a variety of roles. About 10 students and five faculty volunteer weekly for 8-hour shifts.

Three faculty members are also assisting senior citizens with vaccination registration at a senior apartment setting. When the on-site clinic opened, undergraduates assisted with temperature checks, social distancing and monitoring.

Associate Professor Marybeth Duffy has participated with personal outreach to seniors and the disabled, helping register them for appointments and answering questions about the safety of the vaccines. “They need reassurance that taking the shot would be better than not,” she says.

The School of Nursing has been involved since the early days of the pandemic with patient care. The University coordinated with Passaic County to convert large parking lots into a COVID-19 testing site.

In its latest effort, the School will help vaccinate 90 homebound residents in West Orange in partnership with the West Orange Health Department. This faculty-undergraduate effort will include students assisting with making calls to individuals, registering them for an appointment, scheduling the appointment, and going to their homes.

“People are scared,” says Reinisch, who has telephoned those with COVID-19 as a medical reserve volunteer assigned to the West Orange Health Department to conduct case investigations, checking to see how they are feeling, advising them to go to the hospital if they experience trouble breathing and asking about their symptoms. “We are trying to understand what we are living with, what we are dealing with.”

“In this last year, I don’t think any of us have had control over anything,” Reinisch says. But with the rollout of vaccines, “this is a moment where it seems we have a ticket out. It’s a proud moment for nursing, a proud moment for Montclair State nursing. I think we’re going to walk away with positive memories of this horrible pandemic. At least this is a moment where we can give back.”

John Gurriell, the simulation lab coordinator for the School of Nursing and a paramedic, volunteers at a drive-through vaccination center, giving shots outdoors at the fairgrounds in Sussex County, New Jersey. “The people who have received doses have been so appreciative,” he says. “There’s been cars that came through with gift baskets for the volunteers.”

For Gurriell, it’s a family affair. His wife, Julia, is the county’s emergency planner and COVID coordinator. Their college-age daughter helps with registrations. “I never envisioned a pandemic like this,” Gurriell says. “I’ve always been involved in fire service and EMS, and I’ve been involved in some large-scale events. This is different. We thought this would last a month or so, but now it’s been months and months. It really requires a different approach.”

Story by Staff Writer Marilyn Joyce Lehren

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This press release was produced by Montclair State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.