Nurses out in force for STV Day of Service

Villanova Nurses conducted screenings on 200 children at the McDaniel School in Philadelphia.

For the 10th Anniversary of the St. Thomas of Villanova Day of Service on September 13th, College of Nursing faculty, students and alumni came out to help two groups.

Service started a day early on September 12th to reach school children at Delaplaine McDaniel School in Philadelphia, when 54 Villanova Nurses worked side by side with school nurse practitioner Rodney Abary in vision and height/weight screening for first through third graders.

Coordinated by Villanova's Chapter of the Student Nurses Assocaition of Pennsylvnia (SNAP) student site leaders Shannon Myers, Erin Ferraro and McKayla Swearer, this was a project co-sponsored by SNAP, the Undergraduate Nursing Senate (UNS), Chi Eta Phi and Nurses without Borders.

The Villanova Nurse volunteers included generic undergraduates, students from the BSN Express and Alternate programs, graduate students, faculty/administration and alumni. The welcome from the school (children, teachers, staff) was awesome. According to Nurse Abary, the screening of nearly 200 children accomplished in one morning at the start of the school year would have taken "six months or longer." Children identified at risk during screenings are reviewed by Nurse Abary and receive referral for (free) follow up from such resources as the Wills Eye Hospital's "Give Kids Sight" program and the Philadelphia Eagles Flight for Sight Mobile Clinic, which comes to the school.

Faculty and alumnae Dr. Bette Mariani and Shelley Hickey, take a quick break while packing medical supplies for Africa.

The following day, family members joined faculty, staff and students as part of Alpha Nu Chapter's volunteer service. The group once again lent their professional knowledge and muscle to Mission Relief Services (MRS) in Coatesville, Pa. It is Alph Nu's 7th trip to assist MRS.

MRS is a private, non-profit humanitarian aid organization specializing in the redistribution of medical and surgical supplies to Third World countries throughout the world. They collect and process donated supplies from health care facilities in the area and ship them directly to designated areas.

Alpha Nu was successful in raising $4,000.00 needed to send a shipment (a large shipping container) to alumna Sr. Lena to support her clinic in Nigeria. The group sorted and packed a wide variety of supplies for her including (but not limited to) a microscope, surgical instruments & supplies, masks, gloves, an operating room table, lab supplies, B/P cuffs, isolation gowns, bedpans & emesis basins, gloves and vacuum pumps.