Nursing students, faculty and alumni participate in RAM outreach event
Several VCU School of Nursing students, faculty members and alumni were among a VCU group that volunteered recently at a Remote Area Medical (RAM) outreach event held at Greensville County High School in Emporia, Virginia. School of Nursing volunteers helped with triage, health screenings, pharmacy prescriptions and other needs. During the two-day event, volunteers registered 664 patients and provided more than $250,000 in free medical and dental services.
RAM is an organization that helps coordinate free health care events throughout the country. Held for the first time in Emporia, the event provided patients with the option to be seen by multiple medical, dental and vision care providers. There were also options for onsite mammograms, healthy cooking courses, lay-person Naloxone administration training, legal consultation and other services.
Led by Mary Kay Goldschmidt, DNP, RN, APHN-BC, and Genevieve Beaird, M.S., RNC-OB, CHSE, both clinical assistant professors at the School of Nursing, the nursing students were paired with 16 VCU School of Pharmacy students, along with Evan Sisson, Pharm.D., M.S.H.A., BCACP, CDE, FAADE, associate professor at the School of Pharmacy.
The VCU volunteers screened 93 patients for diabetes and high cholesterol and diagnosed 19 of them with diabetes. Those patients saw an endocrinologist the same day and received assistance with follow-up care coordination.
Nursing students who participated include Kaitlin Moore, Margaret Sabo, Afton Bradley and Hannah Lands. Alumni volunteers were Abigail Wisner (B.S.’17/N), Camille Brenke (B.S.’17/N), and Hallel Basco, RN (B.S.’15/N), a master’s FNP student.
