By Janet Arnold and Holly Walker
The road to becoming a nurse is a rigorous journey – one filled with long days; countless hours of reading and studying; hands-on training in the skills lab; and shifts at medical facilities. It’s a career path requiring dedication, compassion, determination, stamina and a commitment to helping others.
This summer, JTCC nursing students Erika Alexander, Phoebe Coleman, Kailyn Eure, Miguel Rivera, and Phyllicia Stevens, along with recent JTCC nursing graduate Kristi Nelligan, put their training to a new test.
They joined Janet Arnold, associate professor of nursing, and a team of 16 volunteers including nurses and doctors on a Friends of Barnabas (FOB) medical mission to Honduras.
The days were hot and humid, and the work was challenging, but the students jumped in, ready to take on anything and everything they were asked to do. They took vital signs, applied fluoride to tiny teeth, operated the pharmacy, assisted the Honduran dentist, performed vision screenings, and administered anti-parasite medications. The Tyler team also obtained accurate heights and weights of every child in each community, information key to tracking the progress of the FOB mission “to provide high quality sustainable health care and enabling communities to become self-sufficient through health-related training and education.”
When clinic work was done for the day, the students were not! They immersed themselves in the communities they visited, painting tiny fingernails; reading Dr. Seuss in Spanish and English; jumping rope; blowing bubbles; and sharing the universal sound of laughter with the children they met.
Janet Arnold says trips such as these enrich student perspectives in a number of ways. “Nursing students are intelligent, hardworking and caring people,” she says. “During a mission experience, students learn about themselves and increase their empathy and respect for diverse people and global issues. Students often develop a greater purpose for learning and service. Most of the RNs on our teams are former students.”
Interested in learning more about Tyler's Nursing Program, including requirements, accreditation information, class list and more? Check out the Nursing Program page on our web site.