CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Mu Eta Chapter — Chi Eta Phi Sorority donated “much needed” personal protective equipment (PPE) to nursing students attending the University of the Virgin Islands’ School of Nursing.
Some 70 masks were delivered to the UVI School of Nursing Building on the St. Thomas Campus Friday.
Masks are now a required component in clinical settings needed to assist each student with completing their education.
“Nursing school is very demanding and requires a lot of time, energy and effort,” Celia Nurse, assistant professor and program chair and academic supervisor of nursing, said. “As a result, many of our students do not work and or have little to no financial means. These masks give the students one less thing to purchase and that means a whole lot.”
“One of the goals of the sorority is to encourage and support nursing students,” Clarise O’Connor, sorority member and registered nurse, said. “It is our hope that by presenting these masks will encourage them to be a positive example to others-especially during this time,” O’Connor said. “It is an opportunity for student nurses, who may very well be ‘sorors’ in the future, to teach by example, the benefits of wearing a mask. As nursing students, it is expected that they demonstrate hope, sensitivity and compassion when interacting with their clients or their peers.”
“The current state of the territory and the world relevant to COVID-19 stimulates lots of uncertainty,” Nurse said. “However, what is certain is that nurses have to function in clinical environments through this and other emerging infectious diseases.”
“Our nursing students are eager to continue their nursing education which, requires clinical learning experiences,” she said. “This donation is important because masks have now become a part of the clinical uniform for our nursing students.”
“I am very grateful that despite the fact that there are so many things to think about in this state of uncertainty, Mu Eta Chapter — Chi Eta Phi Sorority thought of our nursing students,” Nurse said.
Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Incorporated is a sorority for nurses founded in 1932 by 12 graduates of Freedman’s Hospital. Mu Eta Chapter was chartered on Oct. 11, 1987. Chi Eta Phi’s members are committed to the Sorority’s Motto “Service for Humanity.”