APSU nursing students support grieving families at Walk to Remember event
(Posted Oct. 31, 2018)
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Earlier this month, a group of Austin Peay State University nursing students traveled south to Brentwood to spend a Saturday supporting grieving families during the annual Walk to Remember. The solemn event is hosted by Sharing of Middle Tennessee, a nonprofit group of parents whose lives have been touched by the tragic death of a baby through pregnancy loss, stillbirth or in the first few months of life.
“This grief support group meets once a month at Centennial Hospital in Nashville, and families from Clarksville, Cookeville and all of Middle Tennessee attend,” Dr. Debra Rose Wilson, Sharing of Middle Tennessee board member and APSU associate professor of nursing, said. “Fourteen APSU student nurses assisted with the event with T-shirt sales, setting up and taking down, and supporting families as they remembered their lost child.”
Austin Peay’s nursing students oversaw the craft tables, allowing both adults and children to paint memento rocks, and they helped manage the registration desk. More than 100 people attended the event, which included a walk and a balloon release.
“It was really raw and powerful, but it was also amazing to see all the siblings and parents supporting each other and seeing how affected they were by this loss was sobering,” Katrina Coe, APSU nursing student, said. “I think participating in events like these is important for nurses, because it’s a reminder that patients still have a lot of things to deal with outside of their appointments and if we are to treat them holistically, we need to connect with our communities; not just think of them as ‘appointment times’ and then forget once they are out of sight.”
Austin Peay’s nationally ranked School of Nursing offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, an online RN to BSN program, a Master of Science in Nursing with two concentrations and a post-master’s certificate. For information on the program, visit www.apsu.edu/nursing.
