SPECIAL REPORT: Becoming a nurse during a pandemic

News 11's Arlette Yousif brings us an in-depth look at just how the college's nursing program contributed to COVID-19 testing and vaccinations

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Nearly a year and a half after the pandemic changed our lives, we’re beginning to see some normalcy. That’s in part thanks to Arizona Western College’s (AWC) nursing students and faculty.

Drastic times call for drastic measures. Yuma County needed all hands on deck when the pandemic hit. AWC nursing students joined forces with medical professionals to answer the call when COVID-19 struck Yuma County.

"Going through a global pandemic and being in the healthcare field, that's frightening. Going through a global pandemic and entering the healthcare field as a student is something entirely different. None of us knew that we'd be walking into something like this," says Arizona Western College Nursing Graduate Rachel Wright.

Walking into the unknown together, even though there were some reservations.

"Where there was some hesitancy at the beginning, I did not see that not even remotely towards the end, everybody just was ready to help and get in there. And there are so many people that need our help and that includes the healthcare workers," explains Rachel Wright.

From then on it was go-time. The Yuma County Public Health Services District approached AWC for help. Seventy students and four faculty members volunteered their time and efforts to the County, a total of almost 1,200 hours.

"Once the semester started, they actually are the ones that were very instrumental in actually going to the public health department on their days off because they still had to come into class. They still have to go to some clinical," says Arizona Western College Nursing Program Director Gloria Hager.

Many nursing students had only experienced one normal semester out of the four-semester program. With traditional clinicals out of the question, changes had to be made to prepare these future healthcare workers.

"Clinicals were out. So in March, thanks to our leadership, they were able to buy interactive programs for our students, what they call virtual simulations," explains Hager.

Still, if they could help students and the community at the same time, they wanted to do it.

"We took that opportunity at the time because we were allowed to by the Arizona Board of Nursing that we can use that as a clinical," says Hager.

Students were ready to be a part of the solution.

"It was a privilege more than anything. It was an excellent learning opportunity because it put us face to face with our community. So because of the pandemic, some of our learning opportunities had changed. And when they were able to implement us, going out to these sites and doing these things, we were able to participate in tons of care, which was amazing because the public really needed it," explains Wright.

In addition to assisting the health department with COVID testing sites and vaccination sites, a virtual simulation program was incorporated in the spring of 2020, allowing students to work with a system that presents real-world health scenarios.

"With covid came loss as well. So we weren't able to do all of the same things, but I absolutely think that these experiences not only make up for it, they add to, they add something to us as nurses, we're going to be ready to tackle things and be flexible because we've had to do that," says Wright.

There was still a sense of community even during some of the worst times.

"A really pleasant surprise how happy everybody was and how grateful they were. Not only for the vaccination, but the opportunity to talk to somebody and ask questions, or even say things that they really hadn't been able to say because they'd been home alone or they just don't have those people to talk to at the moment," explains Wright.

As a result, we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Using the PPE, get vaccinated, we can get back to semi-normal, I think," says Hager.

As for the students -

"I feel like I'm prepared to go in as a new graduate and learn all the things that I should be learning as a new nurse on the floor," explains Wright.

But the nursing director says anything is possible.

"This pandemic is unique, but it's not out of the ordinary. We can have something else like that again. It affected all the nursing programs," says Hager.

A unique experience with lessons unlike any other.

"Everybody that's going forward, like really wants to do this and make a difference. And we've seen what that's like," explains Wright.

Hager agrees.

"Shows you the caliber of students that we're getting. For me, it was nice to see they were instrumental in actually going there," says Hager.

Many of the AWC nursing students who helped during the pandemic have now graduated, and can now take this unique experience into the workforce.