{"id":45341,"date":"2020-03-27T12:40:42","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T16:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=45341"},"modified":"2020-03-31T10:18:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T14:18:38","slug":"nursing-students-volunteer-at-vdh-call-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2020\/nursing-students-volunteer-at-vdh-call-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Nursing students volunteer at VDH call center"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you called Virginia Department of Health\u2019s COVID-19 hotline last week from anywhere in the Shenandoah Valley, your questions may have been answered by a senior nursing student from Eastern Mennonite University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>VDH\u2019s regional COVID-19 call center, located in the basement of the Mason Street office in Harrisonburg, is manned by four nurses between the hours of 8 a.m.-4 p.m. For the last week, students have joined the staff during each four-hour shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-009-1000px.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-45345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-009-1000px.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-009-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-009-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption>Ally Coffey shares information with classmate Emily Travis in between answering calls for the Virginia Department of Health regional hotline.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve learned so much,\u201d said senior <strong>Ally Coffey<\/strong>, who will graduate in May with 16 classmates. \u201cEach call I take, I learn something new because I have to find and process the information, and then I know it for the next time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"highlight highlight-right\">To access the hotline, call 877-ASK-VDH3. More COVID-19 information is available at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/novel-coronavirus\/\">Virginia Department of Health<\/a>.<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>Fielding questions from citizens living in the four-county Central Shenandoah Health District and as far south as Roanoke, the students provided information, calmed fears, and pointed out resources. Each hour they logged freed public health nurses for other work. Additionally, the time counted as clinical hours and put them in direct communication with residents in need.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing public health nursing opportunity,\u201d said <strong>Kate Clark<\/strong>, assistant professor of nursing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The service (access it by calling 877-ASK-VDH3) is a way to \u201cget out accurate, fact-based information to the public, to help people remain calm and give them guidance when they don\u2019t know what to do or can\u2019t find specific information,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-006-1000px.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-45343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-006-1000px.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-006-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-006-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption>Nursing professor Kate Clark takes a call from a concerned mother whose daughter has been exposed to COVID-19.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Questions \u201crun the gamut,\u201d she added. \u201cSo we do have people calling who say, \u2018I&#8217;m exhibiting these symptoms. What should I do?\u2019 We have people who say, \u2018My friend\u2019s or coworker\u2019s wife might be positive. What should I do?\u2019 We&#8217;d have employers asking about what they should do for their employees and letting them work from home. We have people asking about their pets and if it&#8217;s safe for their pets to be around them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Coffey and classmate <strong>Emily Travis<\/strong>, each phone call is a way to practice their communication skills, conveying both empathy and competence to allay fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHelping the public filter out fact and fiction is really important,\u201d said Travis, \u201c because they&#8217;re hearing a lot on the news and hearing a lot of fear and you sort of have to sit down and on the phone and say this is what&#8217;s going on and this is how we can stay safe. I know there&#8217;s a lot of fear out there and there&#8217;s a lot going on, but if we take these measures then we can be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite ending their clinical rotations earlier than normal, all of EMU\u2019s nursing majors in their final semester will be ready to take their boards and enter the workforce. Some will have a little extra public health nursing experience.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis isn&#8217;t like a normal thing we would be doing,\u201d Clark said. \u201cIt&#8217;s a way that students can actually do something that is helpful, not just to the nurses here but to the general public. And so we&#8217;re really happy to be taking advantage of that opportunity and glad that they trust us to join them in the work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-001-1000px.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-45365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-001-1000px.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-001-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/03\/20200325-vdh-Call-Cntr-001-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption>A whiteboard becomes a source of updated information in the call center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you called Virginia Department of Health\u2019s COVID-19 hotline last week from anywhere in the Shenandoah Valley, your questions may have been answered by a senior nursing student from Eastern <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2020\/nursing-students-volunteer-at-vdh-call-center\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Nursing students volunteer at VDH call center<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17562,5600,12579],"tags":[13751],"feature":[17427,17423,17426,17241],"class_list":["post-45341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digest","category-nursing","category-pre-professional-health","tag-kate-clark","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-featured-undergrad","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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