Students and faculty from Bellarmine University’s nursing program helped more than 50 high school student athletes become eligible to compete in their school sports by conducting required physical exams at Louisville’s Southern High School this morning.
The nursing students - from the
Donna and Allan Lansing School of Nursing and Clinical Sciences - included three undergraduate nursing majors and six graduate-level family nurse practitioner students.
A similar group completed more than 100 student physicals at another Jefferson County Public Schools event last month. This is Bellarmine’s second year participating in this service initiative.
"Our students take away the importance of giving back to the communities they serve," said Chris Webb, director of Bellarmine’s family nurse practitioner program. "Without this service, many students would not have been able to participate in sporting activities and might miss out on important anticipatory guidance on their own health."
Working alongside Bellarmine nursing instructors, the students conducted vision exams and measured heart rate, blood pressure, height and weight.
Four family nurse practitioner faculty members supervised the students: Kim Hawkins, Chris Pickering, Britt Schloemer and Webb. Bellarmine's involvement was organized by the program’s graduate clinical coordinator, Emily Nation.