By By Lynette Wilson / staff writer
Nov. 14, 2002
Residents of Meridian Community Living Center crowded into the activities room Wednesday morning for "sit and be fit" exercises.
Twelve 11th- and 12th-grade students dressed in scrubs of all colors led more than 35 residents in sedentary exercises while the television blared "Good Morning America" in the background.
The students are enrolled in Northeast Lauderdale High School's two-year Allied Health program. They spend two days a week in the classroom, two days at Rush Foundation Hospital and one day at Meridian Community Living Center.
Rebecca Pou is in her second year of the program and plans to become a registered nurse.
Pou said her class has been to hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, clinics and veterinary hospitals and they've seen it all.
Twelfth-grader Jamie Kerr works at Till-Newell Animal Hospital on the weekends. She said she's worked with both large and small animals holding them still while tests and shots are given, cleaning cages and learning symptoms of diseases.
She said veterinary medicine can be hard to deal with because animals in obvious pain cannot communicate.
Jan Trawick teaches the Allied Health Program at Northeast, and also works as a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center to keep her skills up to date.
Trawick expects a lot from her students.
Trawick uses in-class time to teach basic body mechanics, how to lift and move patients; range of motion exercises; patient rights and confidentiality; the names of bone and muscles; and other basic nursing skills.
She said students must maintain a score of 75 percent in all of their classes to participate in field studies.
Trawick started teaching Allied Health eight years ago. She said most of her student have chosen to work in health care as physical therapists and nurses at Rush Foundation Hospital, and nurses at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center. Others are in medical school.
She said over the years she's found students who choose not to become health care workers end up in education.
Donnie Smith, director of corporate communication for Rush Health Systems, said the hospital has programs for students of all ages.