{"id":149018,"date":"2024-04-04T09:35:35","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T13:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=149018"},"modified":"2024-09-16T13:19:20","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T17:19:20","slug":"wright-state-nursing-student-helps-design-life-saving-project-for-elderly-residents-in-wilmington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2024\/04\/04\/wright-state-nursing-student-helps-design-life-saving-project-for-elderly-residents-in-wilmington\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State nursing student helps design life-saving project for elderly residents in Wilmington"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Reed Pitstick, a senior nursing major at Wright State, was part of a project to help elderly residents in Wilmington have their medical information on hand in case of an emergency.<\/p><\/div>\n

A senior citizen is passed out on the floor of his Wilmington residence. First responders arrive but do not know the person\u2019s medical history. But on the refrigerator door is a completed medical form in a sealed plastic bag telling the responders what they need to know.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a result of a program based on the American Red Cross\u2019s Vial of Life, adapted for elderly residents in Wilmington by a group of Wright State University nursing students, including a student whose own health problems inspired her to care for others.<\/p>\n

Last fall, nursing students in public health classes were assigned to study nearby small communities. A group of nine students studied Wilmington by vehicle, foot, via research and through interviews with a cross-section of residents.<\/p>\n

One of those students was Reed Pitstick, a senior nursing major<\/a> who lived near Wilmington as a child.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always went to Wilmington with my parents,\u201d she recalled. \u201cIt\u2019s a full-circle moment. Being able to make an impact close to where I grew up makes me hopeful that that community will improve from what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students determined Wilmington\u2019s elderly population could be vulnerable because most do not have vital health information ready for first responders.<\/p>\n

The goal became to have that information easily at hand.<\/p>\n

Pitstick said Wilmington\u2019s public safety officials were approached about reviving the Vial of Life program, which had been in the city years ago but has since lapsed. In this program, a resident\u2019s health information is usually listed on paper rolled into a tube kept in a refrigerator.<\/p>\n

The nursing students struggled to find funds for or suppliers of cylinders. So, each student donated sealable, clear-plastic sandwich-sized bags.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took the Vial of Life idea and updated it,\u201d said Pitstick, who now lives in South Charleston.<\/p>\n

One major addition was to include a code status for whether the resident has a do-not-resuscitate order or whether first responders were to do whatever is necessary to get a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

The bags included instructions explaining code statuses and a form listing the resident\u2019s emergency contacts, medications, medical history, past diagnoses, names of their health care providers, whether the resident has a pacemaker and other pertinent information.<\/p>\n

The students distributed 400 bags through Wilmington city authorities. The bags included two Vial of Life stickers, which Pitstick designed \u2013 one for the front door to alert first responders and the other attaching the bag to the refrigerator door.<\/p>\n

Though the students wrapped up their project in December, it lives on through materials from live presentations they gave now available at the Wilmington library. Included is a QR code that leads to the instructions and forms that can be printed and distributed.<\/p>\n

The project is important to Pitstick.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve planted a seed that can grow if people in the community find it helpful,\u201d she said. \u201cWe focused on the elderly, but it can be made impactful for other populations, like the homeless, the less fortunate or those who didn\u2019t have access to our project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her sympathy and empathy for others \u2013 and her drive to be a nurse \u2013 grew from personal experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never knew I wanted to be a nurse until high school when I ran into a health problem,\u201d Pitstick said.<\/p>\n

A student-athlete, she developed an irregularly fast and erratic heartbeat, a condition called supraventricular tachycardia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn October of my junior year of high school I had two emergency heart surgeries, one day after the other,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

Thirteen months later she had a third heart surgery. All were in Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital in Columbus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a great experience,\u201d she said. \u201cI loved talking to the nurses to see what they do. It was during that last hospital stay that the notion entered my mind to go to nursing school.\u201d<\/p>\n

She toured Wright State and after high school graduation, she enrolled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWright State has a highly rated nursing program,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s far enough away for me to live here, and close enough to go home when I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pitstick\u2019s heart now is fine, and she has resumed being an athlete, playing co-ed recreational volleyball and sand volleyball.<\/p>\n

Pitstick is now doing a capstone project on post-partum care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where I want to work as a nurse, with new mothers and their babies,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to have an impact on that patient population.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wright State\u2019s nursing program has helped Pitstick develop confidence in her nursing skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of skills labs and simulations, a lot of hands-on learning,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are a lot of great clinical instructors who are motivating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reed Pitstick, a senior nursing major at Wright State, was part of a project to help elderly residents in Wilmington have medical information on hand in case of an emergency. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":149028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,744,725,715,2796,2061],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-education-human-services","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news","category-nursing","category-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149018"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149047,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149018\/revisions\/149047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}