Several Indiana University East School of Nursing students were able to put practice into experience as Reid Hospital & Health Care Services moved to its new hospital. The hospital made the move on Wednesday, September 10. IU East and the new Reid have neighboring campuses on Chester Boulevard and Reid Parkway in Richmond, Ind.

Faculty and students helped to move 91 patients to the state-of-the-art building. They were utilized by the hospital staff to provide care for the patients and their families, pack patient equipment, administer medication under faculty supervision, and several other tasks throughout the day.

Dean of the IU East School of Nursing Karen Clark said being involved in the hospital move provided the students an opportunity to be a part of history.

“From an educational perspective, students saw first-hand the intricacies of such an endeavor. As senior BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) students who will soon study management and leadership, this experience has demonstrated the use of the principles of planning, organizing, implementing, and evaluating in a way that few ever experience,” Clark said. “The student role during the move was to assist patients preparing for their ambulance ride up the boulevard. Patients may have experienced fear, anxiety, and/or excitement at the thought of their transfer to the new Reid. Our students focused on their use of therapeutic communication skills to put the client at ease. They provided basic nursing care, use critical thinking skills, and made the transition from the old hospital to the new one as comfortable as possible for the clients entrusted to their care.”

The patients were moved to the one and one-half mile down Chester Boulevard by ambulance. The process began in the early morning and was completed by noon.

Senior nursing students Melissa Fish of Greenfield, Ind. and Laura Beckley of Anderson, Ind. said the learning experience put their education to use.

“We were able to take things into perspective,” Fish said. “We could make educational decisions and we felt very comfortable. Overall, I was extremely surprised at how well this went and how well everyone worked together. It was all very well executed.”

Beckley added the cooperation between the Reid staff and the IU East faculty and students was one of the key areas to help the move be successful.

“Everyone pitched in and helped out. We were able to think critically through problems like we have learned to do in the lab at IU East,” Beckley said.

LuAnne Christofaro, director of the Reid Outpatient Care Center at Reid Hospital & Health Care Services, said the students had the opportunity to participate in the well-planned patient move sequencing and teamwork.

“With the nursing staff working out of two locations, reporting of critical patient information was key to the success of the move. They had the opportunity to see how to juggle multiple priorities by working with a unit of patients rather than just a few patients as they do in their routine clinical assignments,” Christofaro said. “The students were a great asset to our patient move team.”