MHU Nursing Students Volunteer at COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics

February 22, 2021

Mars Hill University senior nursing major Demarron Johnson of Bridgewater, North Carolina, administers a COVID-19 vaccine during a drive-in clinic at Mountain Heritage High School in Burnsville, North Carolina, February 22, 2021.

Students in Mars Hill University’s Judge-McRae School of Nursing are getting hands-on experience at COVID-19 vaccine clinics in Western North Carolina. Nursing students have volunteered at clinics in Madison and Yancey counties, administering shots and assisting with administrative needs. They braved cold, wet conditions Monday morning to assist at a drive-through clinic at Mountain Heritage High School in Burnsville.

The immunization clinics are part of the students’ clinical rotations, which allow them to “volunteer their time and talents in exchange for experience and the opportunity to give back to the community,” according to Rachael Swann, the simulation lab and clinical coordinator for the Judge-McRae School of Nursing.

Mars Hill University senior nursing major Reggie Wright of Greenville, South Carolina, prepares to administer a COVID-19 vaccine during a drive-in clinic at Mountain Heritage High School in Burnsville, North Carolina, February 22, 2021.

The students are seniors in Professor Traci Van Ooteghem’s Community Health class. In addition to the immunization clinics, her students will volunteer with on-campus efforts, delivering meals to students who have to be isolated or quarantined under the university’s coronavirus response efforts. Van Ooteghem says opportunities like these are especially important for the students, given that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has limited options for nursing students to safely complete clinical rotations in the community.

For more information about Mars Hill University’s nursing program, contact the Judge-McRae School of Nursing at (828) 689-1600 or nursing@mhu.edu.

Mars Hill University senior nursing major Alyssa Jenkins of Concord, North Carolina, administers a COVID-19 vaccine during a drive-in clinic at Mountain Heritage High School in Burnsville, North Carolina, February 22, 2021.