While the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) held its 46th annual conference in St. Louis, July 31-Aug. 5, Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing sponsored the NBNA Summer Youth Enrichment Institute. While the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) held its 46th annual conference in St. Louis, July 31-Aug. 5, Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing sponsored the NBNA Summer Youth Enrichment Institute. Started in 2010, the institute is a one-day enrichment program offered to children and teens, ages 9 to 18, during NBNA's annual conference. The program is designed to increase awareness and understanding of the role of nurses in health care.
Goldfarb School of Nursing partnered with BJC School Outreach and Youth Development to introduce participants to a new adventure in health care. Enrichment activities included an interactive session at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and a hands-on learning experience in a fully equipped simulation lab at Goldfarb.
The group worked with Goldfarb faculty, staff and student volunteers in the simulation lab, where four groups rotated every 15 minutes through four stations:
Handwashing — Participants engaged in a handwashing activity and learned the importance of hygiene, using glow liquid and black light to demonstrate how to properly wash hands.
Empathy belly — Each participant tried on the empathy belly and listened to baby and mommy heart tones on a “sim mom,” or simulation mannequin.
Diapering — Participants practiced diapering and swaddling newborns. They also observed “dirty diapers” and learned what different colors of stools could mean.
Sim baby — Participants listened to heart and lung sounds and took each other’s temperature.
“Forty excited participants, and their chaperones, were wowed by their visit and took part in a memorable learning experience, while also having fun,” says Anita Barrow-Morrell, EdD, MBA, Goldfarb admissions advisor.