Health Systems Management Student Coordinates COVID Vaccination Clinics

McNeese State University student Jassmine Sims, a senior health systems management major, not only received her COVID-19 vaccine at McNeese’s first on-campus clinic but she also helped organize the operation as an intern with Student Health Center nurse practitioner Dr. Troy Hidalgo.

Leading up to the vaccination clinic, Sims reviewed recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Louisiana Department of Health to develop the policies and procedures for the on-campus clinic.

“Jassmine came to the health center just as we entered the planning phase of the vaccination clinic,” says Hidalgo. “Her dedication to researching best practices and partnering with several offices around campus to develop the clinic workflow truly led to our success.”

McNeese’s health systems management program prepares students to plan, direct, implement and organize how health care is delivered in a variety of health-related fields and settings.

“I’m currently taking a course with Dr. Amy Bufford, coordinator of the program, that covers how to initiate, manage, lead and sustain projects in health care,” says Sims. “Planning the clinic was a team effort and I developed many of the consent forms our clients had to fill out. The pandemic will come to an end but the experience I’ve gained will support me long after.”

Each client of the vaccination clinic returned completed forms to volunteers who then passed the information on to Sims. As nurses were registering and administering vaccines, Sims was entering the client information into Louisiana’s immunization database.

“Having the ability to enter information into the database was one of the requirements to have McNeese approved as a vaccine site,” explains Hidalgo.

A total of 82 members of the McNeese community received their vaccine at the first clinic. The university’s second clinic is scheduled for March 26.

For more information on McNeese’s health systems management program, visit www.mcneese.edu/academics/undergraduate/health-systems-management.