MANKATO — For Mankato patient Geri Halbert, a quick ear cleaning and hearing assessment performed by Minnesota State University College of Allied Health and Nursing students was enough to give her a lot of peace of mind.
“I made the appointment real easily online, and I’ve had a few concerns about my ears, but they tell me everything’s good,” she said.
Students visited VINE Adult Community Center Wednesday to provide the accessible services aimed at the center’s members.
“People need to realize what a resource this VINE community center is. I moved here nine years ago, and I knew about it, but I didn’t realize all the services that they provide here,” Halbert said.
Nursing students Santra Thomas and Jamie Rand said the school visits twice a semester as part of their community health class.
“We get hands-on practice. We get to know the people in the community. Just, it helps us, I feel like, get ourselves out there and ultimately this is a part of what we’re going to do in the future as nurses. It just helps us get comfortable doing this,” Thomas said.
Rand said the experience also helps develop practical nursing skills.
“We learn how to assess patients’ ears. We learn how to intervene with cleaning them out. We have that education benefit, so we’re teaching them proper techniques of taking care of their ears and then also just reassessing,” she said.
Sabrina Ehmke, an assistant professor at the school of nursing, and Kristi Oeding, an assistant professor who teaches in the field of communication sciences and disorders, said the partnership has been going on for about two years.
MSU students and professors also often come to VINE to help members in other areas, such as fall prevention, exercise support, nutrition education and mobility.
“It’s based on what the VINE clients have requested. We try to fill in some of those gaps,” Ehmke said.
Oeding said their ear clinic is an affordable way to get care.
“It’s also accessible. We can do it in a setting that they’re already coming to,” she said.
Oeding also spoke on the importance of ear health.
“Sometimes it can be something really simple, too. Maybe it’s just wax blocking your ears, so they can save a ton of money coming here, because a quick look in the ears, get it cleaned out and maybe they hear better. But if they don’t, then it’s nice that we can test their hearing, because it’s important for them to know if they have hearing loss,” she said, adding that some studies have shown a link between that and dementia.
“You could become socially isolated. It can really impact someone’s relationships with their family, so it’s important to get it checked out and then learn what your options are so you can hear better.”
VINE lists upcoming services in their monthly newsletter.