Nursing students provide immunizations for county employees
by Kim Miller
It’s been several years, but MCG nursing student Erica Tindall remembers the misery of the flu.
“You can’t do anything, anything at all,” she said. “It’s draining. You can’t go anywhere because you’re contagious. You have to wait around until it passes.”
Ms. Tindall was among 40 MCG nursing students administering flu shots to 450 Augusta-Richmond County employees at the Municipal Building Nov. 1. A partnership between MCG and the local government, now in its ninth year, allows students to fulfill a clinical requirement by providing immunizations.
“The flu season typically begins in November and ends in May,” said Laura Arthur, instructor in the MCG Department of Biobehavioral Nursing. “Since the flu shot takes two weeks to become effective, October and November are the best times to get it, but you can really get it at any time during the flu season.”
The flu is an acute respiratory infection that causes fever, headache, muscle ache, cough, nasal congestion and sore throat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For those with weakened immune systems, such as the very young and very old, the flu and its complications can be life-threatening.
“Students get lots of great experience interacting with patients, doing the vital signs and actually giving the shots,” said Ms. Arthur. “The repetition is fantastic for them and the employees get their flu shot. It’s a win-win situation.”
The CDC recommends an annual flu vaccination for at-risk populations such as individuals age 65 or older, children 6 to 23 months old, pregnant women, health care workers, the chronically ill and those living with or caring for children younger than 6 months old. Since the flu virus changes from year to year, the vaccine must be updated for the most current strain.