IU Kokomo nursing students develop Kids Connection; Free ID kits to be distributed Nov. 16

By Ann-Marie Damler

Photo by Mary Ellen Stephenson IU Kokomo’s Kids Connection, scheduled Nov. 16, is the community outreach project of IU Kokomo nursing students (left to right) April Roles, Amy Gurein, Sara Mercer, Sarah Hodapp, and Melissa Musselman, with instructor Sherri Rinehart.

Kids Connection will feature appearances by McGruff the Crime Dog, the Kokomo Fire Department robot and Howard County Sheriff’s Deputy Rich Ferguson with his drug-sniffing dog. Kokomo Mayor James Trobaugh will officially open the Kids Connection at 10 a.m.; events continue through 6 p.m.

Lt. Shawn Haus, who coordinates youth and community service programs for the Kokomo Police Department, will direct members of the Police Cadets Explorer post in fingerprinting youngsters at the event. The fingerprint cards will be given to the children’s parents for safekeeping. Haus noted that, although fingerprints can help identify kidnapping victims, parents should be equally interested in the numerous child safety lessons they can pick up during the event. Kidnappings and other harmful incidents are “less likely to happen if we teach kids to be safe,” Haus said. “Kids should know what to do if someone knocks at the door when they’re home alone, or calls to them on the street.”

This “prevention is protection” focus resonates with the five seniors who conceived Kids Connection. Melissa Musselman and April Roles of Peru, Sara Mercer of Twelve Mile, Amy Guerin of Winamac and Sarah Hodapp of Kokomo are all pursuing bachelor’s degrees in nursing. They organized Kids Connection as their community service project, a requirement of their community nursing course.

Hodapp said her work on Kids Connection means more to her than just a class requirement. “I feel like I’m making a difference for once in my life,” she said. Pregnant with her first child, Musselman said she “just had to get involved. It’s nice to be able to work with healthy people, rather than people who are already sick,” she added.

Roles said that, by letting nurses interact with the public outside traditional hospital and doctor office settings, projects such as Kids Connection help overcome “white-coat syndrome,” the feeling that health-care providers know more than patients and shouldn’t be questioned. “It’s up to us to get to know the community and make people trust us,”” Roles said.

Developing good communication skills and familiarity with patients is a hallmark of the growing community nursing trend, said adjunct instructor Sherri Rinehart. Kids Connection will help her students get acquainted with other public service providers, such as the police and fire departments.