Nursing students at Francis Marion University are getting a taste of what it’s like to be nurses at Bethea Baptist Retirement Community in Darlington.
Francis Marion University nursing student Tiffany Allen assists Bethea Baptist Retirement Community resident Ora Lee Cox with her oxygen tube.The students pair up and go to Bethea once weekly for a month-long clinical rotation to help them prepare for the challenges they might face as future nurses.
“These are actually first-semester, generic nursing students,” Lynne Kennedy, director of FMU’s nursing program said. “and Francis Marion’s nursing program wanted to embrace a program that was holistic in nature, taking a lot of emphasis on the spiritual side.”
She said Bethea Baptist was the perfect place for the students to gain real-world knowledge in a controlled environment.
“We wanted to try to find a facility that would allow our students not to see the patient, but to see the person,” she said. “It’s a perfect match. I knew when we walked through the door that this facility would allow our students to see (the patients) in a home setting.”
So far, the partnership has worked to the advantage of both facilities, offering residents of Bethea Baptist some extra care and the fresh-faced students a chance to put their classroom studies to use in a practical environment.
“Our students need to learn to deal with people, not diseases,” Kennedy said. “We are one of only a few baccalaureate programs that actually use a nursing home setting.”
She said she is grateful to Bethea Baptist for working with the school to make the program a success.
“They were kind enough to take every one of our students,” Kennedy said. “We have 56 students here in two days.”
Ben Spurling, the administrator for Bethea Baptist, said the program has worked to the advantage of the retirement community, as well.
“We are very fortunate to be working with Francis Marion and the students,” he said. “We consider it a privilege and an honor to be the first clinical experience for these students and be their exposure to people and taking care of people.”
He said he thinks a nursing home setting is a great place for students to learn how to care for people, since the residents have their rooms set up with pictures and mementos to remind people they’re not only patients, they are people first and foremost.
“We take care of people differently,” he said. “We’re honored to have (the students) here.”
Kennedy said the students are learning some of the basic values in nursing, not just the technical aspects often focused on in a university setting.
“The art of nursing is something our program is bringing back into place,” she said. “A program can teach you about science, but the art of nursing is respecting that person’s values, and religion is very much? an important part of that. These students have been able to come out here and actually see just how important religion is to these patients.”
She said the students have risen to the occasion in a number of ways.
“They’ve gotten very attached to these residents,” Kennedy said. “They will be coming back and being very involved in some of the activities here.”
And the residents have found that the students bring a touch of youth and vitality to the community that can be hard to find in a long-term care setting.
“The residents really love the students,” Spurling said. “They love the interaction with the students. It’s been a positive interaction for everybody involved.”
Nell Brown, a resident of Bethea Baptist, said she thinks she and her family picked the right place for her. Brown said the students have been a wonderful addition to the already caring staff at Bethea Baptist.
“I fell in love with (the students),” she said.
She said the students have the time to sit and talk with her, whereas the nursing staff is often busy with the medical care of the residents. She said the nurses on staff try to chat with her, but they have other jobs to do as well, which can make it hard for them.
Many of the students said they have gained experience they will carry with them throughout their careers.
“I love it here. It’s a warming feeling when you work with them,” Tasha Hoskins, a junior in the FMU nursing program, said. “(I’ve learned how to) care for the person, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually. We’re caring for the whole person.”
Other students learned basic skills in caring for patients with more focused problems.
“The best part of the day was when I got my patient to eat,” Jimmi Jones, a nursing student at FMU, said. “The nurse showed me how to get her to eat, and I fed her.”
Jones said she loves working at Bethea Baptist, but her biggest problem has nothing to do with patient care.
“Time management is my biggest (problem), but I’m learning a lot,” she said.
Kennedy said the program likely will be a staple of the FMU nursing department for many years. Staff members at Bethea are thrilled with the idea of a long-term program, based on the outcome of this first experience working with FMU nursing students.
“We were very excited when they decided to use us,” Melissa Boatwright, director of nursing at Bethea Baptist, said. “It’s been a wonderful experience for the students, the staff and the residents here.”
Boatwright said she also thinks the program will continue to be used by both the retirement community and the university for a long time to come.