April is STD Awareness Month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventation (CDC) 20 million new STDs occur each year. Two thirds of all individuals with STDs are between the ages of 15-24. This means that college students are mostly at risk of contracting an STD because of high risk behaviors that they engage in and not thinking about the consequences of their actions.
The Nursing Program at York College had a presentation on Sexually Transmitted Diseases on Wednesday, April 17th. The nurses that were giving the presentation were students from the college that were in the Nursing Program working on their Degree. Every Wednesday the Nursing Program students present a different topic on health, some other topics that they have previously presented on are stress management, obesity, stroke prevention and breast cancer detection.
Associate Professor Heather Gibson was there to supervise the students and make sure that everything was going fine. Students that were walking by came to see what was going on. The nurses that were giving the presentation tried to get more students to take at look at the display table and take some pamphlets that contained information on STDs and STD prevention. Initially some students were hesitant to come and take a look; the nurses were demonstrating how to use a condom properly. Some students were curious about the use of a female condom and an oral condom.
Students in college need to be more informed about STD prevention, but some students just think that they can find all the information they need on the internet. The nurses offered helpful tips on how to know if you have an STD, flu like symptoms will be the first step. Shazam, a nurse at the presentation said “at the hospital we see the magnitude of STDs and its effects on young people.” The goal of this presentation was to inform the students about STDs and how they can be prevented.
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