October 11, 2021
By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer
As frontline medical professionals continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, Roane State Community College organized a special event to give some of our local healthcare heroes a break from their busy and often stressful work.
On Wednesday, October 6, Roane State’s nursing program clinical students visited Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge to take part in the “100 Nurses” event. They filled in, supporting the professional nurses and other healthcare providers so they could rest and get brief chair massages.
At least 16 volunteers – including current students, alumni of the community college’s massage therapy program and licensed massage therapists – were stationed in individual rooms on a vacant wing of the hospital to offer the massages.
Organizers chose the name “100 Nurses” for the event because that’s how many people they hoped to serve. They met that goal and then some, providing an estimated 150 massages over the course of just four hours.
“The burden of the pandemic has been overwhelmingly placed at the feet of our front line health care providers,” said Vicki Winston, interim director of Roane State’s massage therapy program. “We wanted the ‘100 Nurses’ event to impact as many nurses, respiratory therapists and other support staff as possible by providing a safe, quiet moment of peace with a caring practitioner.”
“I am so grateful to everyone for leaning into this gift of heart envisioned by Vickie Pierce, Roane State associate professor of nursing,” Winston said.
“She asked for our help on behalf of our beloved nursing community,” Winston added. “I, in turn, asked the professional massage community for help. It’s what we do.”
The Roane State Massage Therapy Program is the only massage program in the state of Tennessee accredited by the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation and is one of the few community colleges in the area to offer a one-year comprehensive certificate in massage therapy.
For more information on Roane State programs such as nursing and massage therapy, visit our Health Sciences Division page.
Roane State Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ethnicity or national origin, sex, disability, age, status as protected veteran or any other class protected by Federal or State laws and regulation and by Tennessee board of Regents policies with respect to employment, programs, and activities. View full non-discrimination policy.
