September 29, 2005

Troy University nursing students get hands-on experience in wake of Hurricane Katrina

“We know South Mississippi .” So read the slogan on the back of the Wesley Medical Center t-shirts worn by Troy University senior nursing students.

The south Mississippi these students encountered was not the one workers at the Hattiesburg hospital had in mind when they coined that tag line. The 12 students’ south Mississippi experience was one of 12- to 18-hour shifts, sleeping bags on hard floors, short naps and even shorter showers. And, trauma.

“A lot of trauma,” Kerry Varner recalls of the group’s trip to assist the medical center’s staff face the health needs following Hurricane Katrina.

The students lobbied to make the trip after seeing the devastation. They learned on the afternoon of Aug. 31 that the trip was on and left for the 211-bed  Hattiesburg hospital the following morning.

“The nurses at Wesley were just so exhausted and you could see the relief in their faces when they saw us arriving,” Varner said.

What made the students’ presence even more important to the staff at Wesley was the influx of patients received from Hattiesburg ’s other hospital – Forest General Hospital . The larger hospital had experienced generator problems and was forced to ship many patients to nearby Wesley.

The students worked in the emergency room, the surgical unit and obstetrics, and while they had different experiences one thing remained the same.

“With a lot of the patients we saw, we had to deal with the psychological and well as the physical aspect of the situation, ” said Varner.

In addition to the helping hand, the students also delivered some much-needed medical supply. Troy Regional Medical Center and Lakeview Hospital in Eufaula donated the supplies for delivery by the faculty and students.

The students, who returned to Troy on Labor Day, also were in agreement that they would go back if the opportunity presented itself.

“This was the chance of a lifetime,” said Tammy Kilgore. “We weren’t really sure what to expect, but I know that it will be an experience that we will remember all of our lives.”

The students and faculty involved with this trip were: Dr. Don Jeffrey, dean of the College of Health and Human Services; Carolyn Andrews, a member of the nursing faculty; Dr. Amy Spurlock, a member of the nursing faculty; Milton Craig Cassady of Chancellor, AL; Teresa Fryer of Montgomery, AL; Tracy Hall of Saraland, AL; Paul Kiley of Troy, AL; Tammy Kilgore of Forest Home, AL; Leigh Phillips of Birmingham, AL; Hope Scroggins of Eufaula, AL; Christina Szabo of Ozark AL; Nancy Tindell of Slocomb, AL; Kerry Varner of Red Level, AL; Kandace Brooke White of Dothan, AL; and, LeAnn Leslie Winburn of New Brockton, AL.