Every year, as the colder months approach, illnesses start to circulate as flu season begins.

During the fall season, the Creighton Nursing Program systematizes the ‘Shoo the Flu’ campaign throughout September and October.

This initiative is part of the Creighton wellness and compliance program, where students from the nursing, pharmacy, and paramedicine programs administer between 2,000 and 3,000 vaccines during these two months.

Professor Margo Minnich, from the Nursing program, believes that this campaign is of utmost importance and brings significant benefits to students in the sciences.

“This offers our students a significant opportunity to administer intramuscular (IM) injections which is an important skill for all of the students who participate,” Minnich said.

“Furthermore, it opens our students for discussion about population-oriented programming to control disease within the population as well as understanding the administration pieces of setting up a clinic.”

Grace Mooney, a senior in the College of Nursing, finds this opportunity extremely beneficial as it gave her the opportunity to put her schooling to use in patient interactions.

“Giving flu shots was a learning opportunity for my classmates and me because any clinical experience we are given allows us to improve our skills and become more confident with patient interaction,” Mooney said. “By the vaccine clinic shift, I was much more confident in my ability to give vaccines to patients I have in the future.”

Minnich also emphasizes the convenience of getting a flu shot on campus, making it easily accessible and helping protect the campus community.

“Perhaps most importantly, this serves the population of students on campus by making access to the vaccine easy, “Minnich said. “Health science students are required to receive the vaccine, and this makes that an easy process to receive and to document the vaccine.”

Overall, Mooney believes that this opportunity enables her and other students to provide them with a taste of the real world.

“This experience is part of required clinical hours for nurses, however, it was a fun and rewarding opportunity to improve my skills,” Mooney said. “I’m happy any time I get the chance to apply what I’ve learned in school.”