YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Nursing students at Youngstown State got a unique opportunity to prepare for a role many of them could play after graduation.

A mock COVID-19 testing site was set up on campus for other students to drive through, pretending to have symptoms. The nursing students were responsible for triaging patients and determining whether or not their symptoms could match a positive diagnosis.

"We feel that this is an important experience for these students. They're in their community clinicals," said Nicole Olshanski, Assistant Professor of Nursing at YSU. "This is a community clinical activity for them, to be out here, a part of what the nurses are facing and the challenges during the pandemic."

The activity aimed at preparing the students to graduate in the midst of a pandemic.

Around 30 community health nursing students participated, with another 60 nursing students acting as patients at the mock drive through clinic.

With the ongoing increase in healthcare workers leaving their jobs due to the stress of the pandemic, Associate Professor of Nursing Amy Weaver urges students to use the skills they've learned in activities like this in their future careers.

"We know they're joining their fellow nurses who are stressed out, maybe burned out, so we are hoping and telling them to watch and observe what's happening and what's going on with their fellow nurses," said Weaver. "Use critical thinking skills to give a fresh perspective when they enter the nursing profession, and being able to provide solutions using those critical thinking skills."

During their community clinicals, students participate in community outreach including flu vaccine clinics, vision screenings, and a Centering Pregnancy program.