Running head: INDEPENDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Independent Learning Experience

Kendra Calonita
Western Washington University

INDEPENDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Independent Learning Experience

For my Independent Learning Experience I volunteered with the Whatcom County Health
Department in performing a vaccination clinic at the senior center in Ferndale, Washington. My
fellow student Michelle and I arrived around 730 in order to help with the set up and to meet the
team helping with the vaccination clinic. Sharen Sandell was the nurse who ran the entire clinic
and she gave us a run-down of what was going to happen, and who was going to be at which
station. There were three different stations: the initial check-in station where someone was able
to look in the computer to see if there was a list of previous vaccinations given, the pre-screening
station where I was sitting with Sharen to have a quick chat with the patient to see how they were
feeling, ask about allergies, and narrow down exactly which vaccines they were going to receive,
and finally the vaccination station, where they would receive the vaccinations.
I enjoyed being at the pre-screening station because I really got an understanding about
what questions are most important when screening people before giving vaccinations and about
what it might be like if there were ever an emergency situation where vaccines needed to be
given to a mass of people. I was learned about what vaccinations patients were able to receive
depending on whether they were live or not and depending on what vaccines they had received
previously. I enjoyed being able to talk with the patients and understand how thankful they were
for vaccination clinics like this one. What surprised me the most was how expensive the Herpes
Zoster vaccine was, which ranges from 250-300 dollars and Medicare wont cover it. This
vaccination is made for patients 60 years and older, and most of this population is on Medicare,
so it makes no sense to my why Medicare wouldnt cover it. Many of the patients that we saw
came to the clinic to receive their vaccinations instead of going to their doctor because they
werent able to afford them.

INDEPENDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE

At the end, before packing up we went over what went well and what could be better for
future vaccination clinics. We decided as a group that having three nurses giving immunizations
rather than just two helped the process to go faster and run smoother. We also thought that
having a pre-screening station really helped to prevent giving any immunizations that the
patients didnt want. Two things that we thought could have helped to make the clinic run
smoother would be to have two people doing the pre-screening instead of just one, and to have
the pre-screening station in a more secluded area in order to provide patients with more privacy
when asking questions.
In the book Is Everyone Really Equal it says, Social groups that are valued more highly
have greater access to the resources of a society (pg. xviii). I completely agree with this
statement, specifically relating to the vaccination clinic I participated in. This vaccination clinic
really made me think about how much change needs to occur within the healthcare system.
Vaccinations are a big part of preventative care, and when vaccines are not covered by Medicare,
the patients are more likely to become ill and end up in the hospital, which in turn ends up
costing Medicare more money.

References

INDEPENDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Sensoy, O., & DiAngelo, R. (2012). Is Everyone Really Equal. New York: Teachers College
Press