Trevecca nursing department hosts free flu shot clinic

By Macey Smith

Staff Writer

Trevecca’s Nursing department is partnering with Metro Public Health Department to offer free flu shots to students, faculty, and community members on Oct. 30.

The clinic will begin at Trevecca Towers from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. before moving to the third floor of Jernigan from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Vaccinations are free and open to everyone, with no appointment, preregistration or identification required. Before receiving the vaccine, participants will be asked to complete a brief screening questionnaire.

“Anybody can receive the flu shot. It’s through the Metro Public Health department. They offer free flu shots for anyone,” said Christy Twinning, assistant professor of nursing.

This year’s clinic marks the 3^rd year of the event which Twinning took the initiative to organize as a way to make flu vaccinations more accessible to students.

“My children are students here, so trying to find time to organize getting them to their doctor’s office here in Nashville was a lot,” Twinning said. “And so, I started thinking about parents who live out of state and their students are coming here and they don’t have a primary caregiver in town, a mode of transportation or the means to get vaccinated.”

Twinning said that college students can be especially vulnerable to illnesses due to factors such as stress, dehydration, lack of sleep, and poor nutrition.

She also stated that illness can spread quickly on a college campus, especially among students living in dorms.

“And then if you do get sick and you have a fever, it’s really hard to quarantine from other students,” Twinning said. “Once one student in a dorm gets sick, it spreads to the whole suite of people, then down the hall which then spreads to faculty.”

The vaccination is also an important way to protect people who are more vulnerable to sickness, she said.

“We do have members of our community who are immunocompromised, you know, for whatever reason, they can’t get the flu shot, and it’s kind of our responsibility as a community to try and protect the most vulnerable inner community,” Twinning said.

Trevecca nursing students play a huge role in helping coordinate and promote the event. While nurses from the Metro Public health department will be the ones actually administering the vaccines, Trevecca nursing students will be in the vicinity to recruit, direct, and educate patients and visitors of the clinic.

“It’s a good chance for our students to observe nurses and the community and be a part of preventative healthcare,” Twinning said.

Last year’s clinic vaccinated 154 people, and the program hopes to reach 200 participants this year.

The clinic offers convenience to students as opposed to scheduling a doctor’s appointment, saving them both time and money. Participants will also receive a document with proof of their vaccination which can be useful to students who are needing a vaccine for school or employment.

For students who may be hesitant about getting vaccinated, Twinning says that the familiarity of being on campus can make the experience less intimidating.

“To me, it’s just, if you’re going to do something scary, like get a flu shot, I would always rather do something scary in an environment that is familiar to me rather than going to a brand-new place,” Twinning said.