The College of Nursing and Health Professions is indebted to all of the clinical fieldwork and internship partners at various healthcare settings who have gone above and beyond to create meaningful experiences for our students during the pandemic. Here are a few examples of how our educational partners have stepped up during this very uncertain time.
Diagnostic Medical Sonography
“For me, the two people who come to mind are clinical instructors, Patti Meyer (from Deaconess) and Lindsey Mehringer (Ascension St. Vincent),” said Samantha Callis. Instructor and Clinical Coordinator for the Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program. “They have come through for our program providing additional student placements and being extremely flexible with last minute placements/scheduling. They have been under so much stress, and this would be an incredible thank you to them! It’s been amazing to see how they have worked together from two different health systems as a team for our students. This is no different than usual, but they have really come through in the ninth inning for our Summer and Fall clinical rotations when I had students that needed a different site literally overnight.”
Radiologic and Imaging Sciences
“We have the following preceptors that worked with us to keep our students in clinical this semester: Makenzie Jones M’20 and Mikaela Archuleta ‘15 from Deaconess Midtown; Chris Prifogle from Deaconess Gateway; Doris Allen from Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper; and Amanda Griswold M’20 from Ascension St. Vincent Evansville,” said Heather Schmuck, Clinical Associate Professor and Clinical Coordinator for Radiologic and Imaging Sciences. “We are so appreciative of the countless hours spent on meetings, checking paperwork, responding to emails, and working through schedules to strategically align students with rotations to meet educational requirements. It sometimes took some thinking ‘outside the box,’ but their experience and attention to detail made it possible for students to have a successful and valuable clinical experience. We couldn’t do what we do without them.”
Occupational Therapy
“Jeanene Goebel and Deidre Scheu at the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, Kim Armstrong at St. Paul’s Church and Maghan Bretz at Ascension St. Vincent Evansville have gone above and beyond,” said Dr. Jessica Mason, Assistant Professor and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator of Occupational Therapy. “All four ladies have supported our program significantly since March by taking extra students when sites have needed to cancel and allowing students to spend extra time at the sites to ensure the students completed their mandatory fieldwork weeks and hours.”
Nursing
Mary Moll, Director of Medical Surgical Nursing at Ascension St. Vincent Evansville, says she has been a clinical preceptor for USI Nursing students for her entire career, which is over 40 years. She worked with Dr. Ann White when she was clinical faculty on the Postoperative Surgical Unit at then St. Mary’s. She enjoys the energy, enthusiasm and “future hope” that students bring to the hospital environment at Ascension St. Vincent and the nursing profession as a whole.
“I am always inspired and impressed by what the students, who will be future nurses, are capable of and what they will bring to nursing,” she said. “The collaboration and interactions between faculty, students and preceptors make us all better.”
She said staffing and trying to ensure the hospital’s nursing teams are supported at the level needed to meet patient care needs has been very challenging during the pandemic. “Early on, it was also the pace and number of changes that we needed to implement and respond to,” she said.
