“I love it.”

That was the assessment shared unanimously by students from St. Joseph School of Nursing after their clinical experience at Tri-Town Community Action Dora C. Howard Centre in Smithfield on a recent Friday morning.

Every week, teams of students spend a day meeting the clients of the center, an adult day care facility in operation for more than 30 years and run by Johnston-based Tri-Town since 2013.

“Providing these students with hands-on, practical clinical experience is a great example of the collaborations that Tri-Town seeks to build with our community partners,” Tri-Town CEO Joseph DeSantis explained. “The seniors in our care also benefit greatly from interacting with these dedicated and enthusiastic nursing students.”

St. Joseph instructor Ann Marie Simard said the key lesson for the students is how to better communicate with patients. On their recent visit, the students presented a discussion on how to prevent burns and scalding, two typical hazards that seniors face in their homes, and followed it up by gathering in small groups to complete a word search.

“It’s a great opportunity for them – the clients are very welcoming and the staff is just awesome,” Simard explained. “They also do a presentation, so it’s also an opportunity for them to teach and it gets them out of their comfort zone a little bit.”

After their visit to the facility, Simard said she and the students discuss the experience to draw important lessons from it.

“It’s an eye-opening experience – we talk about the clients and what brings them here, we talk about what Tri-Town Dora Howard has offered them as far as the activities, we discuss why the activities are being done, why it’s important to the families, and that when they advocate for a patient or a client, it’s also important to advocate for the family because dealing with patients with cognitive issues can be very taxing on family members,” Simard explained. “We do a lot of debriefing on that, as well as working on communication, even non-verbal communication like therapeutic touch, or sometimes all somebody needs is someone to listen, and the students are realizing that.”

Michael Carr, director of Tri-Town Dora Howard, noted the evolution he sees in the students over the course of their one-day visit.

“A lot of these kids have grandparents that they can talk to and relate to, but just to deal with strangers that are several decades older than you can be intimidating.” Carr said. “When they come here, you can see in their faces that they’re a little nervous, but within a matter of a couple of hours, they’re very relaxed – and the seniors, they light up, because they get a lot of attention that they probably don’t get otherwise.”

The experience at Tri-Town Dora Howard Centre provided Breana Indeglia, of Smithfield, with some new perspective on the program located in her hometown.

“I think it’s pretty fun to interact with them and see how they go about their daily lives, still being at home and having a place to come to get away and have some interaction,” Indeglia explained. “It’s really helpful to get to see what nurses do and how they interact with patients. It helps you think critically so it’s really helpful for when you are put in that situation.”

Erica Dubis, of Coventry, said that her studies at St. Joseph are a continuation of her prior medical experiences, including a degree in kinesiology from the University of Rhode Island and volunteer work at area hospitals with a focus on physical therapy.

Asked what she learned from the Tri-Town Dora Howard Centre visit, Dubis replied: “It’s easier to have a conversation with people than I thought. Upon meeting them, there’s always something to talk about and there’s always something you have in common with somebody, it’s easier to just talk to them as a person rather than as a patient.”

For Michelle Mitchell, of Westerly, the experience at Tri-Town Dora Howard Centre recalled memories from her childhood.

“When I was younger, for preschool, we used to go and meet with residents from as nursing home and do arts and crafts with them, so it’s kind of bringing back a childhood thing, and I love it,” explained Mitchell, who works as a CNA at Westerly Hospital and is working toward earning Registered Nurse certification.

North Providence resident Carly VanOrden recalled that she found the St. Joseph’s program through a referral from a friend.

“I went to Open House and it took about three minutes to say ‘I’m going here,’” VanOrden explained, adding that she made a bond with one of the Tri-Town Dora Howard Centre clients. “I found out that her birthday is the day after mine, we’re really connecting and she’s adorable.”

For VanOrden, the practical experience of meeting clients was “a nice change” from what the students have been doing as part of their studies.

“We’ve been in the hospital the past three weeks, so it’s a little more upbeat,” she added. “Everybody’s having fun, we’re doing activities, I really like it.”

Said Kayla Messier, of West Greenwich: “This is totally up my alley. I love the interaction – that’s why I always wanted to be a nurse, was for the interaction with the patients and clients.”

Messier also explained that her pursuit of a medical career “runs in my family” and also stems from personal experience in her youth.

“My grandmother was sick when I was younger, so I was always helping her out in her apartment,” Messier noted. “I’ve always enjoyed helping people, and this has always been a dream of mine.”

CNA Alecia Supernant, of Sturbridge, Mass., pointed out that St. Joseph is unique in that “not a lot of programs allow you to go out and visit seniors, so it’s a great program.”

Supernant, who also works at Fatima Hospital where the nursing school is based, also noted the practical experience that she and the other students gained through their work at the Tri-Town program.

“It’s so different reading about it in books and then coming here and actually interacting with seniors,” Supernant said. “You get that extra learning, and it’s great to see it first-hand.”

For more information on the Tri-Town Community Action Dora C. Howard Centre, call 401-949-3890.