UTC nursing student shares what school has been like amid coronavirus pandemic

UTC nursing student shares what school has been like amid coronavirus pandemic

Nurses are some of the heroes battling the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic has affected pretty much everything.

Including new nurses ready to start their careers.

I spoke with one utc student to get his take on the pandemic and the impacts it's had on nursing students.

One thing we all might be learning from the coronavirus pandemic is that things don't always go as planned.

Timothy lott: "online courses it's just so different and both faculty and students are facing new challenges that no one's ever had to really deal with and trying to finish our degree requirements with that has definitely been a challenge."

Timothy lott recently finished his nursing degree requirement at utc, but not without some adjustments because of the pandemic.

Unable to finish his clinical practicum in person, lott says he learned through online simulations and exercises.

Timothy lott: "i wasn't able to get the full experience that is intended through the school of nursing which is unfortunate.

However, i feel like they've prepared us very well to be able to overcome that."

And a summer trip overseas he and his wife had been planning for two years couldn't happen.

So his plan to start his career through a residency program at the end of the summer changed.

Getting the career moving, lott says was a concern for him and his classmates a few weeks ago.

Timothy lott: "a lot of places put a freeze on either interviews or hiring and so it was kind of like right now is when were supposed to be applying for a job and the pandemic is really changing that up."

But, learning through the pandemic, lott says has brought what could have been a hypothetical discussion to reality.

Timothy lott: "we actually had our community health class this semester which involves public health."

Timothy lott: "we're actually writing discussion boards and writing papers about this is what's happening and this is how we're dealing with it."

And it's brought lessons of many kinds that can only help in the future.

Timothy lott: "being a new graduate and seeing how his process takes place, if we were to take part in this down the road we would be the healthcare providers that are leading the way in this and it wouldn't be the first time for us to see it.

We'd already kind of already have a blueprint of what works and doesn't work."

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