Page 13 - BusinessWest April 27, 2020

COVID-19/EDUCATION >>
Students
Continued from page 11
and graduates on the front lines during these dif- ficult times.”
Even if, as we’ll see, it can be a little challeng- ing getting to those front lines.
Field Work
For Springfield Technical Community College, which boasts the largest health-simulation center in the Northeast, students not having access to
And that has been a keen challenge the last semester; all of our clinical learning experiences were canceled — understandably.”
Carol Leary, president of Bay Path College, also noted that nursing students have had their clinicals put off — and there’s only so much that can be accomplished online.
“For me, that is a concern because many of them need to sit for their licensing exams before they can begin to work,” she said. “The accredit- ing bodies are trying to work with all the pro-
tering the Massachusetts economy in March, language was included allowing new nurses to practice without a license, if supervised by a pro- fessional nurse of equal or higher education.
“It’s really up to the employers how they would receive a new graduate who is not licensed, how they would recruit and receive them,” Scoble said. “We would provide any sup- porting documentation they would require.
In the past, she explained, a typical student would agree to a position in early spring, then
“I’m not sure what we’re going to experience over the next few months. A lot has to do with how we come back as a country, as a state, and as a community, but I have nodoubtthateverysingleoneofmygraduateswilllandapositionatsomepoint.”
take the exam in June and start work around July.
“All that is unknown right now. Students would say the only thing they can control is finishing the program and preparing for NCLEX.We’restressingtooursoon-to-be- graduates to prepare for the NCLEX — and continue to prepare — until they have the opportunity to sit for the exam.”
campus means not being able to use those tools in their training, President John Cook said.
“That does hinder the potential of our stu- dents to finish, graduate, and work in these fields, which, if they weren’t in demand before, are certainly in demand now.”
That’s a major factor in nursing right now, Scoble said.
“If you ask students what our major respon- sibility is, it’s preparing them for licensure; it’s our primary responsibility as a program, to make sure they meet all their graduation requirements.
grams across the country to figure out how stu- dents can sit for exams.”
Scoble noted that only one testing site is open in the entire state where nursing students can take their licensing exam, known as the NCLEX, and that site is following CDC requirements for social distancing. “So you can imagine, with thousands of nursing graduates in the state, how long it will take for them to test the class of 2020. But they’re trying to open as many sites as they can.”
In Gov. Charlie Baker’s guidance when shut-
In a similar situation, three respiratory- care students from STCC recently began work- ing at Baystate Medical Center after applying for and receiving limited permit licenses, said Esther Perrelli Brookes, director and department chair of the Respiratory Care program. Eight other stu- dents have applied for limited permit licenses so they can work in the field.
“Students chose to study respiratory care because they want to help people. They want to make a difference,” Perrelli Brookes said. “I’m extremely proud of my students who are step- ping up during this unprecedented health crisis.
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