Nursing students help quarantined peers at NDSU
Special to The Forum
North Dakota State University nursing students Heather Theisen-Redfield, left, and Kaytlin Werth helped put together care packages for students who had to quarantine on campus during the coronavirus pandemic.
North Dakota State University nursing students Heather Theisen-Redfield, left, and Kaytlin Werth helped put together care packages for students who had to quarantine on campus during the coronavirus pandemic.
FARGO — When Kaytlin Werth delivered care packages to North Dakota State University students who had to isolate in dorm rooms during the pandemic, it felt like the nursing student was contributing, she said.
“It felt like I was doing something productive,” she said.
Before graduating this year, Werth was one of 38 nursing students who put together care packages for peers required to quarantine, either because they contracted the coronavirus or were exposed to someone who tested positive. They visited more than 100 quarantined residents in dorms this semester and delivered brown bags with items meant to help get through their isolation period.
But the deliveries involved more than just dropping off a bag of goods, said Nancy Turrubiates, the school’s public health clinical coordinator who organized the effort. She called it a “mental health visit” that helped show students they were not alone, even if they had to refrain from seeing others for days at a time.
“Some of the students, they cried,” Turrubiates said, noting many were thankful for the human interaction.
The care packages were part of a clinical experience course this semester. Typically, students go out in the community to help others for this portion of their nursing degree.
Students that took Turrubiates’ course this year had a challenge — the pandemic prevented many off-campus opportunities.
“I had to kind of be a little bit creative,” she said.
Then she came up with an idea: What if nursing students made NDSU their community? “Let’s stay here right at home right on our campus, and let’s support our students,” Turrubiates said.
The students put together care packages that contained hand sanitizer, tissues, acetaminophen, honey for a cup of tea, a thermometer, lip balm and cough drops. Nursing students also inserted information about self-care tips, mental health awareness, contact numbers for student health and other resources for help.
The supplies were donated by the NDSU Student Health Center.
Turrubiates said she already has plans in the works to create another round of care packages for the spring semester.
At first, students who received the visits were confused, Werth said. Once they realized what was happening, the “thankyou’s” started to flow, she noted.
“Having that brought to them, I feel like they were very appreciative of it,” she said. “It’s not just another phone call talking to me about COVID. It’s somebody here in person willing to talk to me and bringing me things that I actually need.”
Nursing students helped answer questions and asked quarantined residents how they were doing. Most isolated students were in good spirits and joked around with their visitors, Turrubiates said.
The pandemic has hindered the development of friendships that typically comes with the college experience, Turrubiates said. One student who had to quarantine three times likely spent most of the semester in his dorm, she said.
A lot of those Werth and others visited were first-year students, Werth noted, adding it’s hard to imagine trying to learn about the layout of a campus and city while trying to get an education without the help of parents, then add the stress of potentially getting sick from the virus and having to quarantine.
Turrubiates is a nurse with almost 30 years experience.
She’s been at NDSU for three years. In coming up with this idea, she said she thought about her son, a freshman at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D.
“As a mother, I was thinking, ‘Gosh, what if my son gets sick?’” she said. “I just want someone to check on him if something’s going on. I would like to know that there is going to be a little bit of support services for him.”
Helping students figure out everything was a humbling experience, Werth said. The work she did as a nursing undergraduate will follow her throughout her career, she added.
“Being able to relate to your patients is one of the basic things you can do to help improve your care,” she said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter April Baumgarten at 701-241-5417 or follow her on Twitter @aprilbaumsaway.
“It felt like I was doing something productive,” she said.
Before graduating this year, Werth was one of 38 nursing students who put together care packages for peers required to quarantine, either because they contracted the coronavirus or were exposed to someone who tested positive. They visited more than 100 quarantined residents in dorms this semester and delivered brown bags with items meant to help get through their isolation period.
But the deliveries involved more than just dropping off a bag of goods, said Nancy Turrubiates, the school’s public health clinical coordinator who organized the effort. She called it a “mental health visit” that helped show students they were not alone, even if they had to refrain from seeing others for days at a time.
“Some of the students, they cried,” Turrubiates said, noting many were thankful for the human interaction.
The care packages were part of a clinical experience course this semester. Typically, students go out in the community to help others for this portion of their nursing degree.
Students that took Turrubiates’ course this year had a challenge — the pandemic prevented many off-campus opportunities.
“I had to kind of be a little bit creative,” she said.
Then she came up with an idea: What if nursing students made NDSU their community? “Let’s stay here right at home right on our campus, and let’s support our students,” Turrubiates said.
The students put together care packages that contained hand sanitizer, tissues, acetaminophen, honey for a cup of tea, a thermometer, lip balm and cough drops. Nursing students also inserted information about self-care tips, mental health awareness, contact numbers for student health and other resources for help.
The supplies were donated by the NDSU Student Health Center.
Turrubiates said she already has plans in the works to create another round of care packages for the spring semester.
At first, students who received the visits were confused, Werth said. Once they realized what was happening, the “thankyou’s” started to flow, she noted.
“Having that brought to them, I feel like they were very appreciative of it,” she said. “It’s not just another phone call talking to me about COVID. It’s somebody here in person willing to talk to me and bringing me things that I actually need.”
Nursing students helped answer questions and asked quarantined residents how they were doing. Most isolated students were in good spirits and joked around with their visitors, Turrubiates said.
The pandemic has hindered the development of friendships that typically comes with the college experience, Turrubiates said. One student who had to quarantine three times likely spent most of the semester in his dorm, she said.
A lot of those Werth and others visited were first-year students, Werth noted, adding it’s hard to imagine trying to learn about the layout of a campus and city while trying to get an education without the help of parents, then add the stress of potentially getting sick from the virus and having to quarantine.
Turrubiates is a nurse with almost 30 years experience.
She’s been at NDSU for three years. In coming up with this idea, she said she thought about her son, a freshman at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D.
“As a mother, I was thinking, ‘Gosh, what if my son gets sick?’” she said. “I just want someone to check on him if something’s going on. I would like to know that there is going to be a little bit of support services for him.”
Helping students figure out everything was a humbling experience, Werth said. The work she did as a nursing undergraduate will follow her throughout her career, she added.
“Being able to relate to your patients is one of the basic things you can do to help improve your care,” she said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter April Baumgarten at 701-241-5417 or follow her on Twitter @aprilbaumsaway.