Story by Sophie Brock April 16, 2021. Photo courtesy of Mary Elizabeth Baldwin.

The nursing program at the University of Arkansas is not only a competitive program, as listed by the program’s website, but it’s also been one of the most severely impacted by COVID-19.

While other majors are automatically entered into their program upon enrolling, those wishing to pursue nursing typically must wait until sophomore year to apply to the program. Even then, only 200 out of the thousands that apply are accepted each semester.

Now that COVID-19 is a normal part of our lives, the program continues to change as more news in regards to the disease and vaccines come out. Most of the nursing school curriculum revolves around clinicals, where future nurses are able to go to healthcare facilities and volunteer to gain experience. 

When COVID-19 first reached the U.S. however, the University was forced to change the way that clinicals took place. UA alum Mary Elizabeth Baldwin, who is now a cardiac nurse at Mercy hospital, was in the midst of her senior year when students were forced to transition online.

“COVID-19 impacted my ability to participate in clinicals in-person. Three of my clinicals in my last year of nursing school became online, and I had one hybrid clinical which allowed me two in-person clinical days,” Baldwin said. “It’s difficult and honestly intimidating entering such a hands on career without as much hands on preparation.”

Upon graduating this past December, Baldwin was placed in a COVID-19 unit.

“To my surprise, it went well, but I’ll be honest and say that I was pretty scared at first,” she said. “It’s been a difficult transition from nursing school to working, but so far it’s been worth it.”

Baldwin credits her professors in the program for helping her feel equipped when she graduated.

“All of my clinical instructors were very helpful and dedicated to increasing my confidence in critical thinking and nursing skills,” Baldwin said.  

Senior nursing student  Anika Van Lieshout has seen how much the program has changed because of the pandemic. Unlike many other programs offered at the University, the hands on clinical experience that the nursing students get is vital to their learning.

“Instead of getting to attend lectures in person, there has been a greater need to self-teach and take a lot of initiative if there is a concept that I don’t understand or ask questions about,” Van Lieshout said. “However, the nursing instructors have been amazing in terms of being available for questions and it’s very evident that they truly care about our well beings and that we are learning and performing to the best of our ability.”

Diana Rene Dunbar is one of many professors at the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing. She said many professors still work in the healthcare system while teaching. With instructors’ previous experience as nurses, they’re all equipped to be flexible multitaskers, and they hope that their students also learn how to do so.

“Part of the job is always dealing with change and the unknown, and we as faculty have been able to role model and show our students the true meaning of flexibility as well as seeing the science play out,” Dunbar said. “It’s one thing to teach research and evidence based practice but something completely different to witness it.”

In this time of uncertainty, the professors and program heads wanted to give students ample opportunities to gain hands on experience. Despite many usual clinical rounds being altered to fit the pandemic, the program has been able to give nursing students the option to be hands on with distributing the COVID-19 vaccines, Dunbar said. 

One of the immunization clinics nursing students could volunteer at would vaccinate over 3,000 people in a single day, Dunbar said.

“One of the best things to come out of our change in the clinical setting is the opportunities we have given our students to be a part of mass immunization clinics,” Dunbar said. “Students are out working in the community, providing care, educating, and giving shots.  It makes me so very proud of our students and their commitment to the health of our community.”

COVID-19 has changed the way that Van Lieshout views nursing, she said.

“COVID-19 has impacted how I view nursing in terms of how important and needed we are as healthcare workers,” she said. “We are a vital part of society and during a pandemic we are the front lines fighting the virus.” 

“I also think it has shed light on some issues within the nursing community, like understaffing or over assigning patient loads to nurses,” she said.

Baldwin shares the same perspective as Lieshout does, she said.

“With so many regulations on visitors in healthcare settings, many patients were left to rely on the nurses and staff taking care of them,” she said. “Nurses have a huge impact on those within their care, and patients rely on and trust in their nurses more than we may realize.”

Dunbar believes that the nursing school will see positive effects of COVID-19.

“As we get closer to herd immunity, I am hopeful of a return to normalcy but will take with it the lessons learned and step back into the new normal as a better nurse, a better instructor, and a better person,” Dunbar said.

Nonetheless, Dunbar is proud of the nursing students and the sudden adversaries they have had to face this year, she said.

“Our students are top notch,” Dunbar said.  “They are not only surviving a global pandemic, they are also learning how to be a registered nurse.  I cannot speak enough of how our students have stepped up to the plate and are not only adapting to changes but are exceeding expectations.”

The future of healthcare is in these nursing students’ hands, and after all of the obstacles they have faced this year, they all have proven to be more than qualified to take on whatever their future jobs throw at them.