ORLANDO, Fla. – Nursing students in Central Florida are hitting a roadblock following graduation, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
David Frederick is a 2020 graduate of the University of Central Florida's College of Nursing. Frederick said his last semester should have been focused on the specialty of his choice inside a Central Florida hospital.
In March, when coronavirus patients began showing up in emergency care, he and his nursing classmates were pulled from their hands-on practicum, in compliance with university regulations.
Shortly after, the students continued their semester by transitioning to virtual labs. "We had all the interventions that we would have in a hospital setting at the tips of our fingers, or the tips of our