CBU’s College of Nursing offers COVID testing to Lancer community
Riverside, Calif. (Oct. 28, 2021) – The College of Nursing at California Baptist University started providing COVID-19 testing to the Lancer community on Sept. 22. Since then, an average of 40-50 tests a week have been done.
Angel Coaston, executive director of clinical affiliations and academic operations for the College of Nursing, said the idea was proposed to provide testing for nursing students who needed a negative COVID test prior to going to a clinical site. Then other departments asked if they could have students tested, she said.
“The thing about COVID-19 is it's respiratory spread. Some people are asymptomatic and don't even know. Or they become symptomatic, but they've already infected people. So this is a way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our community,” Coaston said.
After receiving approval to become a testing site from the Riverside County Department of Public Health, the county trained nearly 100 students, Coaston said. The testing is open to students, faculty and staff.
The testing site is open three mornings a week behind the Bourns Laboratory, next to the College of Nursing on Adams Street. Those that need a test can walk or drive up. At least one faculty and up to seven nursing students are at the site.
Natalie Becerril, a nursing student, helped with the testing. She previously had COVID-19 and needed to make up her clinical hours. It provided her an opportunity to be on the other side of testing, she said. She has learned about collecting the correct information and having a good workflow.
Muna Abuhijleh, a nursing senior, has had experience with COVID testing at her previous clinicals and wanted to help again.
“I think it's very convenient, especially for people who live on campus. They could just walk here at any time and get it done instead of having to drive off to a hospital and go through that process,” Abuhijleh said.
Michelle Pearson-LoGiudice, director of clinical affiliations and health records analyst, said the site provides the nursing students clinical hours and an opportunity to interact with the CBU community.
“It also gives them a chance to guide people and walk them through the testing and have that empathy for what they might possibly be going through,” Pearson-LoGiudice said.
The tests are dropped off at the Department of Public Health and the results are usually back in less than 24 hours, Coaston said. There is no cost to the students or CBU.
“There's such great reciprocity in having a partnership with the Department of Public Health,” Coaston said. Additionally, “the testing supports the Lancer community in multiple ways. If the students are negative, they can get back to class more quickly. If they're positive, then they can be quarantined.”
The testing site is open 9 a.m.-noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday on a first come, first served basis.