During the months of June and July, two senior nursing students participated in a summer internship program at the Main Line Health System’s Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR). Ashley Tallon from Matawan, N.J., and Holly Leighton of Drexel Hill, Pa. spent part of their summer working with Lankenau’s Education Center on various learning modules that supplemented their pediatric injury prevention program. Fire, gun and burn safety as well as concussion prevention, poison prevention and choking were among some of the modules the students created. These modules were presented at local camps including the Jewish Community Center and Lower Merion camps.
The students found it extremely rewarding watching the children respond to the things they were being taught. In one module presented on bike safety, the students asked the children to agree or disagree with the statement “Bicycle helmets are only for little kids who are learning to ride their bikes” and most of the campers, to their surprise, agreed with the statement. Ashley and Holly then taught the children about helmet safety with a module that included a “melon drop.” The pair used two melons, one fit with a helmet and the other without, and dropped each melon from a chair. The melon with the helmet didn’t even crack while the one without a helmet splattered across the room. Using this simple yet memorable demonstration, the children were able to better understand the importance of wearing a helmet and correctly answered the post-test questions about the appropriate use of the safety device.
The two students also ran blood pressure screenings, shadowed on the labor and delivery unit, and compiled lists of faith-based resources for Lankenau clinic patients who needed help with transportation to doctor visits and items such as food and clothing.
