FOUSIA ABDULLAHI
staff reporter
collegian.editor@tccd.edu
Having a health service coordinator and two part-time nurses, one nurse working each day on campus, will help address some of the acute medical issues students may face on campus.
Amy Pellacani, RN NCSN is the new NE health service coordinator. Pellacani also has a bachelor’s in health information administration. She came to TCC from ESC Region 11, Which provides professional development, technical assistance, and management of educational programs to 76 public school districts, 17 public charter schools, 90 charter campuses, and 150 private schools. Before that, she was an Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD school nurse.
Going from a primary education level nursing to a college campus is a significant change for her.
“I really developed a love for helping the students and the communities. I feel like to come here, I’m having to adjust my mindset because it was children under 18 for the most part,” Pellacini said. “So here, I get an opportunity to explore bigger topics, taboo topics, and get that kind of education out there to the students.”
Pellacani is looking forward to creating new events such as CPR, Stop the Bleed training, tabling events, working with student groups on campus, and outreach working with the student body, like those who have just become adults learn how to take care of their health.
“Health Services provides health programming to the TCC community. They also provide acute care to the TCC community. Some of the programming that they do is health fairs,” said Cara Walker, NE Director of Student Development Services.
Some of the programs are free STI testing for HIV, Syphilis, Chlamydia, and Gonorrhea done by a third-party organization such as Tarrant County Public Health and the AIDS Outreach Center, usually monthly. Twice a month, NE Campus hosts STI testing for the campus community, as well as blood drives, according to Walker.
Students can walk into the health services center located in the NSTU building. They will be greeted by Gloria Randle, the friendly administrative assistant who can help with their questions.
Students that need a Band-Aid, face mask, hand sanitizer, lip balm, or feminine hygiene products, can find them in a neat basket by the door for students to help themselves. They can also make a virtual appointment to see a nurse using the school website.
With the hectic pace of college life, students and staff may have different acute health problems occur day to day that need to be addressed.
“We have emergency EpiPen, if they’re in the clinic and they have a reaction or something and we have Narcan for if they’re in the clinic. And glucagon or glucose tablets, if they’re in here and they get weak or their sugar’s low,” Pellacani said.
She said a routine nursing assessment is done in the office when students come in with complaints.
“They get a complete assessment when they come in even if it’s nausea, we check their blood pressure, we listen to them just like you would in a doctor’s office,” she said.
