Our Daily Show Interview! Vitality Speaks: CALC
GODFREY/ALTON - Vitality Women’s Clinic and CALC have partnered to support students and community members.
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Vitaliy Women’s Clinic offers free pregnancy and STI tests and ultrasounds to individuals experiencing unplanned pregnancies, as well as resources like support groups, parenting classes and more. As a faith-based, pro-life clinic, they do not provide or refer for abortions.
CALC Institute of Technology has several career paths and educational tracts for students to pursue. Nursing is one of their most popular tracts, and CEO Kyle shared that students have partnered with Vitality to gain “real-life skills.”
“The population that we’re serving, it’s not the most optimized situations. So our students get the firsthand delving into that, and I think that’s where we’re not only contributing to the change but we’re trying to foster it,” he said.
Kyle and Jackie Duty, Vitality’s executive director, agree that there is major value in the partnership between the clinic and CALC. They have both enjoyed watching the students engage with Vitality patients and develop their passion for nursing.
While Kyle and Duty agree that nursing is a passion-driven profession, they also understand that it can be difficult to stay motivated in such a demanding role. Duty pointed out that many people are struggling with difficult expectations, and nursing is no exception. She encourages people to show compassion to these nurses.
“We live in a world where the bar continues to rise,” she said. “You see it on social media, all these other things that create these expectations that are impossible, these standards that nobody can live up to. When we all try to keep up with that, it becomes exhausting. We have to remember that we are people. We are humans. The human condition is a real thing. We all need rest and we all need time and we all need to understand and give each other a little bit of grace. Everyone is focusing on the patient but not the person taking care of the patient. They’re a person, too. And we just have to remember that.”
Kyle echoed Duty. He believes a lot of people go into nursing because they are “compassionate” and “want to help.”
But these nurses quickly become “overburdened, emotionally exhausted people” who are struggling with their own emotions and busy lives in addition to staff shortages, which are made worse by this burnout rate. Kyle urges people to show kindness and suggests that nurses should prioritize taking care of themselves as they care for others.
“I don’t think the industry as a whole is looking at that, that these are people taking care of people. How are we supposed to give that empathetic care when you’re being tested to a lot of your different limits?” he said. “We can all build each other up just by having a little grace and mercy.”
This is also a goal of Vitality’s. The clinic hopes to create a nonjudgmental space. Duty added that they are currently working toward a $100,000 capital campaign, which is “everything” as they aim to upgrade their equipment, parking lot and security.
She expressed her appreciation for Kyle and CALC. She hopes the organization can continue to work with Vitality as they think ahead to the next few years of collaboration within the community.
“We’ve always had an incredible partnership with CALC,” Duty added. “Kyle’s strategy and strengths and vision, it really ties into where Vitality wants to go with looking strategically over the next 10 or 20 years. Where can this be, and how can we get in front of it and build a path and know what this can be and resources and accessibility and helping the community in every area? Taking that holistic approach — there are so many things we could be doing, so how can we build a path there now?”
For more information about Vitality Women’s Clinic, including how to schedule an appointment, visit their official website. To support Vitality, check out their official ambassador’s website. For more about CALC Institute of Technology, visit their official website.
This featured article is sponsored by Vitality Women’s Clinic. To get your business or organization featured on www.RiverBender.com, contact us at sales@riverbender.com.
