Nursing Students Take on Critical Role as Contact Tracers – And How FSC is Answering the Call

When the Long Island community’s health is at risk, FSC student nurses answer the call. Especially now, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

First, it was collecting PPE for front-line healthcare workers. Now, 56 senior nursing students have volunteered as Contact Tracers, to personally join the fight against COVID-19.

The volunteers helped Long Island meet its required quota of Contact Tracers necessary for its Phase 1 reopening. They are unpaid, and instead will receive clinical credit.

“I am so pleased to have received approval from the State Education Department to allow students to participate in public health, case-finding/tracer efforts related to COVID-19, in partial fulfillment of required direct clinical experiences,” says Dr. Lori Goodstone, chair of the College’s Nursing program. “This is truly a unique once-in-a-lifetime situation, and I am so excited that our students will play a role in the health, safety, and recovery of Long Island.”

Working under the auspices of the NYS Contact Tracing Program, nursing students work with those who have tested positive for COVID-19, to identify others they may have had contact with, and then notify them that may have been exposed to the virus. They prepared by taking a six-hour training course through Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

President Nader says: “Once again, our students and faculty have stepped forward to help Long Island prevent and overcome the COVID-19 epidemic. We have worked closely with the Regional Control Room, the governor’s office, and Suffolk County to see to it that Long Island has a ready group of highly qualified nursing candidates to serve as Contact Tracers. Farmingdale nursing students have been exemplary. They collected PPE for hospitals and stayed on as front-line workers from the earliest days of the crisis.”

Farmingdale’s nursing students are among the highest-performing in the country. In a first-quarter survey of test results for the important NCLEX-RN licensing exam, they scored a 100% pass rate. They have done this more than once.

If you are a journalist looking to cover this topic or learn more about how Farmingdale State College is playing a key role in combating the spread of COVID-10 – then let us help. Dr. Lori Goodstone  is available to speak with media - simply contact Peter Crescenti, Media Relations Manager, crescepf@farmingdale.edu to arrange an interview today.