Dodge County Public Health and Beaver Dam Moraine Park Technical College Nursing Students partnered up again this year to deliver vaccines to children in Dodge County. Last year the flu vaccine clinical occurred at Dodgeland School. However, this year, thanks to the pandemic the vaccine clinic looked a little different.  This was a first for Dodge County Public Health to offer the flu vaccine via a drive thru.

Over a four day schedule, approximately 213 flu vaccines were administered at the first ever drive thru clinic. According to Lina Rooney – Dodge County Public Health Nurse, “There is no possible way this could have happened without the MPTC staff & students. Through driving wind, rain, & chilly late afternoon temps, MPTC students soldiered on.  They established an efficient flow of assembling & handling syringes, supplies, & paperwork so everything went smoothly. They cheerfully greeted families, calmed anxious kids, and safely administered flu shots. We can’t forget their stellar traffic control skills, either; only one cone was run over! 

According to one of the students, “It was a great experience for us nursing students as we are growing into the role of becoming nurses. The exposure to working with children is priceless as typically that is an area where nursing students may have a fear of how to interact and communicate with them effectively. Essentially we ran the operation this year and all of us nursing students whether we are in our first semester or fourth semester all worked really well together which resulted in a really successful flu shot clinic for the K-12 children within our community.”

 – Kass Haima 4^th Semester Nursing Student

Overall, it was an amazing opportunity for the Beaver Dam MPTC students to give back to the community and formulate a partnership with Dodge County Public Health. We will continue to forge partnerships within the local communities that foster healthy outcomes. There was a sense of pride, collaboration, and passion that was witnessed among students, faculty, and Dodge County Public Health staff. To watch future nurses work with the community was the greatest reward of all!