Helping Residents Bolster Gardens with Rainwater
In February, Student Nurses Association members volunteered with Green Light New Orleans to prep and paint rain barrels that will be used to catch water for New Orleans residents’ future home gardens. Rain barrels capture and store some of the rainwater that runs through a house’s downspout and is the ideal choice for watering plants because it is free of chemicals. Conserving rainwater can help lower household water bills, especially during New Orleans’ hot summer months.
Celebrating Life-Changing Gifts
In early March, Student Nurses Association members volunteered at the Gift of Sight Celebration, hosted by the Southern Eye Bank at the Louisiana Children’s Museum. Donor families, recipients and surgeons participated in this special event that honors the legacies of eye donors and celebrates the gift of sight. A butterfly release was held at the closing of the celebration as a symbolic representation of new life.
Welcoming Next-Generation Nurses to Campus
Students from Mount Carmel Academy, Archbishop Chapelle High School and Warren Easton Charter High School visited the School of Nursing this spring and had the chance to spend valuable time with nursing faculty and students.On campus, they learned more about the nursing profession, different nurses’ day-to-day routines and strategies for dividing time between school, studying, clinical rotations and a personal life. Nursing faculty and students shared insights on admissions and information about the BSN program. Students also had opportunities to tour the school’s Nursing Skills and Technology Center and observe high-fidelity simulations conducted by NSTC faculty.
Planting an Urban Garden
Five Student Nurses Association volunteers partnered with Green Light New Orleans and five Michigan State University students to install an urban garden at Little Professor Child Development Center in Central City. The group planted the garden in December 2019, and by three weeks later, it was thriving.
Coffee for a Cause
School of Nursing faculty accepted donations for nonprofits doing important work at their biweekly Coffee for a Cause meetings with the dean. In 2019, they collected 300 pairs of socks and 700 pairs of underwear for the New Orleans Mission, provided new bed linens for 30 women at the New Orleans Women & Children’s Shelter and donated nearly 500 single-serving food items to the food pantry at Joey’s Hope NOLA.
In 2020, Coffee for a Cause is supporting Take Paws Rescue, which takes pets from shelters and prepares them for transport to foster homes, adopters, rescue organizations and other shelters around the country. Items being collected for this organization include puppy food, Ziploc bags, cleaning supplies, puppy pads, dog shampoo, toys, laundry detergent, trash bags, gently used linens and cash.
Inspiring Future Health Care Providers
The School of Nursing’s clinical group of Sophomore IIs participated in the Louisiana HOSA-Future Health Professionals 2020 State Leadership Conference in Baton Rouge in March 2020, sharing details of their personal experiences in clinical rotations and nursing school and showing high school participants how to take patients’ vital signs and measure blood pressure. HOSA is an international student organization that empowers students to become leaders in the global health community through education, collaboration and experience.
Igniting Interest at STEM Fest
BSN students joined the New Orleans Pelicans and Saints STEM Fest at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in October 2019, giving K-12 students a chance to learn more about the role of nurses through hands-on activities. Nursing students taught young attendees how to listen to a toddler’s heart and lung sounds, provide wound care on a mannequin foot and insert IVs using a silicon arm. They also explained the structure and function of human organs on the school’s anatomy mannequin. In addition, nurse practitioner faculty offered a drainage and incision station, where children and parents could learn about incision removal.
Community Health Highlights
October 2019: School of Nursing representatives presented “Vaping and Its Effects” to Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center residents as part of an ongoing joint effort to improve health and wellness outcomes for youth in the center’s care through education.
November 2019: Student Nurses Association Student Nurses Association (SNA) members volunteered with the American Heart Association’s New Orleans Heart Walk. They assisted with setup, staffed tents and water stations, and cleaned up after the event.
January 2020: SNA volunteers helped the Audubon Nature Rangers plant 152 native tree saplings in a wetland forest habitat still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
February 2020: SNA members volunteered at the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon & Half Marathon, during which 12,000 runners and wheelchair participants raced through the streets of the city.
