Interest high in FVCC nursing program despite pandemic

Small groups of nursing students gathered around specialized maikin “patients” inside the lab at Flathead Valley Community College last Thursday afternoon. One cleaned a wound while another prepared an injection, as educators observed the action, stepping in to provide pointers and encouragement. It’s not an unusual sight, save for the fact that each future-RN is clad in a gown, gloves, and in some cases, goggles.

The addition of personal protective gear is a new development because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to simulate a more realistic environment the students are gearing up even during lab simulations.

“Joining the nursing field in a pandemic is … a little interesting,” one student remarked.

But FVCC’s nursing program is striving to maintain its educational standards despite the challenges COVID has presented. Some programs across the country have switched to complete remote delivery and suspended clinical hours in hospitals or nursing homes altogether. Others, like FVCC, have continued prioritizing real-world experience as much as possible, working with Kalispell Regional Medical Center and its associated facilities to place students for clinical hours. Requirements for clinical hours, or time spent in a medical setting providing patient care, vary across programs.

FVCC provides students with well over 400 hours of hands-on clinical time in pursuit of their associate degree in nursing. Nursing students in bachelor’s degree programs might spend as many as 1,000 hours in clinical settings, according to Montana State University's program webpage.

“The hospitals have been so gracious about taking students back,” Ridenour said. “I think a lot of that is because they recognize that these are their future employees and they want to get them trained.”

In response to the pandemic, the Montana Board of Nursing voted to accept simulation time in lieu of clinical hours, Ridenour said, but FVCC has been fortunate enough to continue arranging placements. However, they did suspend clinical time in the spring during the onset of the pandemic.

WHILE FVCC nursing students are still getting experience with direct patient care, they’re bypassing the traditional route. Ridenour said in a typical year, nursing students will begin with clinical time spent in nursing homes, where patients are more stagnant, allowing them to get comfortable with their skills before moving into faster-paced settings. However, long-term care facilities have opted not to accept nursing students so they are being fast-tracked to hospitals instead. Students are working in specialties such as the emergency room, obstetrics, intensive care and same-day surgery.

“When you go to the hospital, patients are going in and out very rapidly so [the students] don't get that opportunity to really spend that time honing those skills that they learned in the lab,” Ridenour noted. “That’s why we like to step them up so they start with a stable patient, somebody who is really routine ... and then you step into the hospital and see patients that are more acutely ill that require you to respond more quickly.”

It’s a little bit of a sink-or-swim situation — but the ability to constantly adapt is integral to the nursing field. Nurses never know who will walk through the hospital doors and what illness or injury they might be afflicted with.

“Until we get some of these folks graduated we won't really know the total effect on them,” she said. “They’ll go out with some experience of how to deal with that unknown.”

No students have decided to drop out of the five semester RN program due to the pandemic, Ridenour said.

They have instead chosen to adapt to the changing world around them.

“We had to be a little bit flexible and get creative about our learning,” said Shiloh Widhalm. She hopes to work with ER or trauma patients after graduation where she can be the friendly face in a tough situation.

“I wanted to be a nurse because we’re taking care of people in their most vulnerable moments,” Widhalm said.

Tara Didomenico, a medical assistant pursuing her nursing degree, hasn’t changed course as a result of COVID-19 either.

“For me it was something in my soul that said this is what I need to be doing,” Didomenico said. “I can just be doing more good as a nurse. I just jumped right in.”

THE DEMAND for nurses is high and continues to grow. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 7% increase from 2019-29 in the nursing labor force, and reported median pay is $73,300 per year. That wage is lower in Montana, around $52,000 annually, according to Indeed.com.

Ridenour said nursing schools are struggling to keep up with interested applicants — FVCC often receives more than double the applications for its 20 slots per year. The school also offers a shorter licensed practical nurse program that can take up to 10 students over three semesters.

“We always have more applicants than we can take and that's the same thing with almost every nursing program in the state, which is always a difficult situation because you would like to place all the qualified individuals that you can,” she said.

The job comes with its own set of challenges too — possible exposure to disease being one of them. But for Ridenour, it’s just part of being a nurse.

“If you’re not willing to expose yourself to different diseases, viruses, etc, then it’s probably not the career for you. Whether it’s COVID or it's something else, every time you walk into wherever you work, you're being exposed to something,” she said. “Maybe the pandemic is helping a lot of them recognize what nursing really is and the demands it makes on you.”

There are risks, surely, but also rewards.

As a nurse herself Ridenour said she most enjoyed being part of people’s lives — through the good and the bad.

“I used to teach Lamaze childbirth classes and then I also worked in a long-term care facility,” Ridenour recalled. “People said, ‘how does that work’ and I said, ‘well, I just get you coming and going.’”

Now, as a nurse educator, her rewards come from watching students change their lives through FVCC’s health-care programs. Many come to the RN program as single parents or as older adults looking for a career change.

“When we do our pinnings you’ll have 10 students graduating and there will be 400 people there,” she said. It’s not just a job — it changes who you are as a person.”

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss may be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com.