WITH COURAGE , CARE at the Baltimore Washington Medical Center . Her day-to-day work involves checking vital signs , assisting patients with bathing , and helping nurses wherever possible . But during the peak of the pandemic in late March and April , Nicoli was often assigned to designated COVID units — which she describes as “ a completely different environment .”
“ Honestly , I was terrified the first day I was floated to the unit and had to take care of a COVID-positive patient ,” she remembers . Her fear quickly dissipated after realizing the patients were far more scared than she was . “ I was the one person who was able to come into their room due to the visitor restrictions . I had to leave my fears at the hospital entrance , and I took care of all my patients to the best of my ability .”
Another thing that has helped Nicoli through the fear ? The advice she got from Stevenson professor Deborah Lyons , who taught one of her first Nursing classes . “ She said , ‘ You can do anything for a short amount of time ,’ and that has stuck with me — especially when I had to dress head-to-toe in PPE and I was overheating and frustrated with the current situation . I would recall Professors Lyons ’ s quote and it would get me through the rest of my shift .”
After graduation , Nicoli plans to continue in the field of nursing and is still weighing areas in which area she might specialize . “ I can remember one senior nurse asking me if I still wanted to be a nurse after working through this pandemic . I said ‘ absolutely ’. There is nowhere else I would rather be ,” she says .
AN ONGOING FIGHT
While the country adjusts to the new normals of masking and social distancing , the pandemic is still very real for frontline workers like Avery Wrigley , who graduated from the Nursing program in 2018 and currently works in a Progressive Care / Telemetry Unit at GBMC . Typically , the 30-bed unit handles stroke patients — but from March to August , it served as the designated floor for COVID-19 patients .
“ We had 30 COVID patients daily ,” Wrigley recalls , adding that while the unit was given a break in August , it started seeing more COVID patients starting in November . At the peak , she adds , there were roughly four patients to every nurse . “ Some patients had mild symptoms , however many of them declined rapidly . We had to prepare for it every shift .”
Wrigley says the fear of exposure to the virus has made it the most stressful time of her career — but that her training from Stevenson has helped enormously . “ While nothing can prepare you fully for a pandemic , I always heard Professor Laurel Moody in my ear saying , ‘ You can do it . You know what you ’ re doing .’ Behind my N95 mask and face shield , I put on a brave face and handled it .” She adds , “ I was able to pull things from every class to apply to my work . Using health assessment , therapeutic communication , and learning time management through my classes at Stevenson really prepared me as much as possible .”
Gary Pyner , a 2017 Nursing graduate who works as a critical care nurse at the R . Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center has a similar story . He works in the Critical Care Resuscitation Unit , which he describes as a “ one-of-a-kind unit ” specializing in hybrid resuscitation and high-acuity ICU . “ We admit some of the sickest people in the state and surrounding areas that need emergent medical or surgical intervention with advanced forms of resuscitation ,” he explains . While Pyner typically deals with cardiac , vascular , and other life-threatening emergencies , he says the COVID patients he has treated “ have been some of the sickest patients many of us have ever treated . Being a critical care nurse is very stressful , but adding COVID on top of it has been a lot . You can ’ t really prepare for this .”
Still , Pyner says he loves his job , and is grateful for his time at Stevenson — particularly for the individualized teaching , tutoring options , and the advanced-level simulation that helped prepare him for the demands of critical care nursing .
Another Nursing graduate making good use of her Stevenson education is Katelyn Byram , who earned her degree in 2019 before moving to Memphis , Tenn ., to work as a pediatric nurse in the pulmonary unit at Le Bonheur Children ’ s Hospital . While she recently transferred to the NICU , she previously treated children with cystic fibrosis , asthma , and pneumonia — so when the pandemic broke out , her floor became a designated COVID floor due to its specialty in all things respiratory .
“ What we didn ’ t know was COVID in children presents differently than COVID in adults ,” she explains , “ The majority of children who have been positive suffer from MIS-C — multiinflammatory syndrome .” It causes issues such as a full-body rash , swollen legs , very high fevers , and other symptoms .
Byram says that her day-to-day job changed dramatically due to the pandemic . “ I went from caring for chronic lung patients and patients with lung conditions , to caring for any COVID-positive patient , symptomatic or asymptomatic .” She credits her training in respiratory issues while at Stevenson for preparing her to help treat this influx of COVID patients .
Another crucial thing she learned at Stevenson , she notes , was how to develop relationships with patients and their families — a skill that has always been crucial in pediatrics , but especially during the anxiety surrounding COVID-19 . “ It is so important to make a connection with the family and learn what they need from you ,” says Byram , as it helps give families and patients some control in a situation that seems out of their control . “ Even on a busy day , it ’ s vital to sit with the family member and patient and talk about the medications and treatments , answer questions , and learn how best to be your patient ’ s advocate .”
STEVENSON . EDU | 19