USU Uintah Basin and its fellow statewide USU campuses across Utah had an edge as an education institution during the pandemic. USU shared in a press release that as a national leader in innovative online and broadcast education, USU leveraged its experience to adapt quickly and continue to serve students with relatively minimal disruption. A key part of USU’s responsibility is educational delivery to its students across the Statewide Campuses system, which includes and operates 31 locations across Utah including the USU Uintah Basin campuses. While new course technologies were introduced, other students were on the frontlines getting hands-on experiences. Students in nursing programs throughout the state adapted to new clinical requirements, helped support COVID-19 testing services, and now vaccination efforts. As hospitals need more staff, Aggie nurses throughout the state are helping fill that gap. “I never would have guessed that while attending RN school I would be participating in simulations in caring for a COVID-19 patient. It hit me that our class is the first COVID trained nurses,” explained Makenzie Breitenbach, a Uintah Basin Class of 2021 associate of applied science in nursing graduate. “I have been nurse for over 10 years and my whole nursing career has been revolutionized by the COVID-19 pandemic. A brand-new illness that is poorly understood, changes to treatment every day, and of course huge emotional toll in losing most of our hospitalized patients has been a huge learning experience.”
