Vaccination army ready: UMass nursing grads train medical students how to administer COVID-19 vaccine in Worcester
More at link — The strong need for volunteers to administer the COVID-19 vaccine literally received a shot in the arm from student volunteers Saturday at the Worcester Senior Center.
Students in UMass Medical School’s Graduate School of Nursing trained more than 160 medical school students in intermuscular injection.
The training will allow them to inoculate city residents, as well as people from six local communities as part of a regional effort, with the COVID-19 vaccine.
As COVID-19 cases surge throughout the state and Central Massachusetts, 380 health care workers at UMass Memorial Medical Center and St. Vincent Hospital either have the virus or are under quarantine.
“It's cool seeing so many of our classmates here,” said third-year medical student Jacob Maalouf of Worcester. “There's not enough personnel to administer all of the vaccine doses. So I think it's really good to see our whole class and the other classes here rising to the challenge and fix that staffing issue.”
The city's Emergency Dispensing Site will start vaccinating first responders Monday at the Worcester Senior Center on Providence Street.
The student volunteers will also be called on to vaccinate thousands of residents of Worcester, Shrewsbury, Millbury, Leicester, Holden, Grafton and West Boylston, which are part of the Regional Health Alliance.
For Saturday’s training, saline was used instead of the actual vaccine.
Each student entered the training having completed a pretest and PowerPoint module that explained how to identify the landmarks for the deltoid muscle for an injection, said city medical director Dr. Michael Hirsh, who served as flow coordinator during the training.
The students practiced the injection on pads that mimicked the tension one would need if they put a needle into the upper arm.
Working in pairs, students then rolled up their sleeves and practiced injecting one another.
At the end of the training, as about a half-dozen trainees stood near a table to receive their certification cards, Hirsh remarked, “These are the best students in the country.”
Added Jill Terrien, a professor and dean of the graduate nursing school: “The whole goal is to have this army of vaccinators between the Graduate School of Nursing and medical school students and biomedical science students.
“After this training today there's upwards of 400 medical students that know how to give injections and then in the nursing school we have about 250 students across all our programs, that are all licensed providers and can give injections as well.”
UMass Medical students continue training to administer COVID-19 vaccine
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Students at UMass Medical School continue to learn how to administer the COVID-19 vaccine as the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb in the city of Worcester.
After Saturday's training sessions, school officials say 160 students have been trained to administer the vaccine, and are now ready to start vaccinating first responders.
The need to start teaching students how to administer the vaccine rose after 380 health care workers at UMass Medical Center and St. Vincent Hospital tested positive for COVID-19 or were forced to quarantine.
As patient admissions rise, DCU Center COVID-19 field hospital exceeds spring numbers
The DCU Center field hospital has treated 308 COVID-19 patients in 35 days, exceeding the total number of patients in the six weeks the facility was open in the spring. And admissions are on an upward trend.
This is the second time during the coronavirus pandemic that the DCU Center has been used as a field hospital to accommodate a surge in coronavirus.
The facility originally opened April 9 and closed May 28, treating 162 patients in its run, according to Lancette. The highest census at the hospital was 42 patients.
On Friday, the field hospital was at the high watermark for population size, Lancette said, treating 67 patients. It is now open to 75 beds.
Beds for the post-acute/recovery hospital placements, and those from skilled nursing facilities are filling up, but Lancette said that the hospital is working on addressing those concerns.“We’ve been able to stay ahead of the curve with our availability of beds. We haven’t had to turn away any patients,” he said.
Lancette said they are anticipating opening up 25 new beds in the field hospital next week.
As of the end of day Thursday, the field hospital has seen 242 discharges.