March 29, 2021

Big Y stores partner with Elms nursing students to provide vaccines

REGIONAL
Story and photos by David Martin

 

EAST LONGMEADOW– More than 200 students from College of Our Lady of the Elms’ nursing program have been participating in a joint effort with Big Y Supermarkets to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to eligible residents in western Massachusetts.

On March 25, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., a clinic was offered for patients receiving their second COVID vaccine shots at the former Staples building in the East Longmeadow Big Y Plaza. Carly Berneche, assistant professor of nursing at the Chicopee college, said the inspiration for offering vaccine clinics originated with the Elms College president Harry E. Dumay. He connected the college’s nursing faculty with administrators and the pharmacy staff at the supermarket chain.

“I think the community has really enjoyed having a local college here, they have been really receptive to our students,”  said Berneche. “We see them out in the community and if they see a student with scrubs on, they are just so appreciative to them. They have felt comfortable and it has overall been a wonderful experience.”

Berneche said Having the nursing students participate in the clinics is an educational experience that they will carry with them for the rest of their careers and reflects the Elms College mission of helping to serve the community, especially in these difficult times.

Irene Kahn is in the first year of the Elms Accelerated Second Degree Nursing Program, which is for students who already have a degree in a different field. In Kahn’s case she had a degree in exercise science. She worked in cardiology and then decided to become a nurse. She said one important aspect of working in the clinics is the patient contact, where students are interacting with them in a real world situation. Kahn said the clinics offer great hands-on experience for nursing students.

“You are never going to encounter nurses that are better at giving shots for this than us, and just getting used to the way things work — the paperwork has to be in order, all the steps have to be good,” she said. “You have to be ready clinically: This person should get the shot, this person should not get the shot, this is my decision. You have got to be ready, thinking on your feet as you go, and asking the right questions.”  

Kahn said the nursing students also rotate duties. In addition to administering the vaccines, others keep an eye on patients as they move to the recovery area after receiving a shot, and also schedule second vaccine appointments.

One patient receiving her second vaccine was Lillian Fedora, a parishioner at St. Mary Parish in Hampden. She learned about the vaccine clinic as a volunteer at the Hampden Senior Center and felt it was important to get the shot when she was eligible.

“I am excited about getting my second shot and getting back to church and family and friends,” said Fedora. “If you have grandkids and elderly parents, wouldn’t it be nice to give them a hug again for Easter and all those other holidays that are coming up? It is so awesome the students are here, they are so efficient, there is no waiting time. They are very good. You do not even know you are getting your shot.”

Jennifer Salvon, the Massachusetts pharmacy operations manager for Big Y, said over 550 people would receive Moderna vaccines by the day’s end. Big Y is planning on utilizing Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson vaccines for clinics in the future. She added that vaccine clinics have also taken place at the Big Y Plaza in Greenfield, and they are scouting for more locations in the Berkshires, central and eastern Massachusetts for vaccine clinics and also in Connecticut, when Big Y can get vaccine in that state.

“This partnership is crucial for the success of this whole program,” said Salvon. “The Elms students have been very flexible, very knowledgeable and very hard working. We have got nothing but compliments on the techniques of the nurses and the way that the whole clinic is run. It has been a great relationship.”

Berneche said Elms College plans to remain involved with the vaccination clinics until the end of the semester and Big Y has offered to potentially hire some of the Elms College nursing students to work with them during the summer. She said it would be a great opportunity for the school to carry on the partnership with Big Y if the vaccine clinics are still being offered in the fall.

A video version of this story will be on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel” which airs Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. on WWLP-22 NEWS.