Statewide COVID-19 changes will assist College of the Siskiyous LVN to RN granduates – Taft Midway Driller

It was not until last Friday that the Department of Consumer Affairs, the governing body overseeing training, approved a rule to allow more virtual clinical training.

A statewide shortage of nurses could have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic when the statewide emergency that went into effect on March 4 threatened to leave thousands of nursing students without a path to complete required in-person clinical training. It was not until last Friday that the Department of Consumer Affairs, the governing body overseeing training, approved a rule to allow more virtual clinical training. The news was welcome at the College of the Siskiyous which trains nurses, paramedics and future fire fighters.

It is true that our 27 LVN to RN students would not be able to graduate on time if they cannot get back into the hospitals and get the clinical hours that they need, said College of the Siskiyous nursing program head Cora Brownell. Three of the four major hospitals used for clinical experience have closed their doors to students entirely. It will require a change in the laws for our students to graduate on time.

Nationwide studies show that the outcomes for nursing students who accomplish 50% of clinical education in direct care and 50% in alternatives such as virtual sessions or simulation do just as well as those having 75% of clinical in direct care, Brownell said. Many other states follow the 50% standard, but the resistance to virtual training in California had put an estimated 10,000 nursing students across the state in jeopardy of graduating. California college administrators, nursing educators and students sent numerous appeals to Governor Newsom asking that California change its laws to allow the 50% standard in direct care for nursing clinical education.

At this time, that change in the laws means our local students can likely graduate on time and not go through disruption in their education, said Brownell. We now have live virtual classroom theory sessions that take place. We are using simulation and planning virtual simulation sessions for enhanced clinical experiences. At this time, all of our LVN to RN and vocational nursing students are engaged in their courses and participating in our new mode of instruction.

COS trains nurses through a variety of different programs and has had a high success rate in producing quality healthcare workers for the county. All 100% of last years graduating class of RNs and LVNs passed their nursing licensure exam. Brownell said that, at this time, the only postponement will be for the upcoming cohort of LVN to RN students who were to start this summer. Along with the nursing students, those enrolled in the paramedic program at COS have had to adjust to a new online reality.

We have put in more hours than I can count to make these virtual labs work, said Kirk Thomsen, emergency medical services instruction coordinator at COS. Thomsen said that the move to allow more virtual instruction is important to students in the program. Many paramedic and fire technician students also work on the front lines of disaster and miss the first weeks of class since it overlaps with the fire season.

There is a limited amount of time we can cover the material, said Thomsen. Prior to [the rule change allowing virtual instruction] there wasnt a lot of leeway built into the system. Now, if a student missed class, all materials are there virtually. Given the curriculum approval, this should allow that student to do part of the class they might have missed.

Thomsen distributed cardiac machines, medical dummies and various other props to instructors before the campus closed. Teachers and students are finding ways to make the virtual training work.

There is not so much of the tactile touch now, but you start memorizing the vitals more, said paramedic student Abel Pini. We have been making props to help understand.

Pini and his fellow lab students are working on understanding and operating a cardiac monitor in their virtual labs. For the virtual labs, some students made laryngoscopes, airway intubation tools, out of foil. Thomsen said he still hopes that students could return in small groups sometime in the summer to participate in a skills lab boot camp. In the meantime, the college is making the most of their training supplies.

We are transferring beds from our nursing education labs to Fairchild Medical Center for emergency use, said Brownell. Over this week and last, I have also assisted the delivery of various PPE supplies to our local hospitals and supported our expert nursing faculty in the transfer of classroom instruction to virtual classrooms.

As the College looks for short-term solutions for students needing clinical training, Brownell said it is important to think in the longer term too. Clinical hours at local hospitals are shared between the paramedic and nursing students. The shortage of clinical locations in rural areas such as Siskiyou County will remain after the threat of COVID-19 passes.

We are finding clinical alternatives for our nursing students so that we can do everything possible for them to graduate on time, said Brownell. What would help rural schools like ours the most would be to adjust California laws permanently so that more of the required clinical time can be accomplished in simulation and virtual clinical sessions.

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Statewide COVID-19 changes will assist College of the Siskiyous LVN to RN granduates - Taft Midway Driller