WC Texas News

Central Texas College issued the following announcement.

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the medical world upside down. Hospital staffs are working around the clock and exposing themselves to the risk of infection with every shift. Some of these strong and brave individuals behind the masks are local graduates of the Central Texas College (CTC) nursing program.

A fall 2016 graduate of the CTC Associate Degree in Nursing program, Lauren Rabo serves as a staff nurse in the Emergency Department of St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton California. “We deal with the patients from the time they come in the front door,” said Rabo. “Our process is, if they are positive for symptoms and stable they go to our tent. If they are not stable to sit in a chair they go to a part of our ER that is sectioned off as a “RED” zone. “There they will receive all treatment needed and are swabbed for the virus. We often have sent the patient upstairs to be admitted before we even have the results back from their COVID swab.”

To keep patients separate from the possible positives and those who do not have symptoms related to COVID-19, St. Joseph’s “RED” zone receives all respiratory-related problems as well as all of the codes coming by ambulance. This can be a challenge for Rabo and her co-workers since they do not have a history of why the patient is now either in cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest.

Rabo credits her CTC training as helping her cope with such challenges. “We did not do any specific pandemic training at CTC, however, we were taught how to deal with stressful situations appropriately as well as taking precautions and wearing your PPE (personal protective equipment) properly to ensure your safety and not to be exposed to anything your patient may have,” she said. “The instructors were amazing in teaching us those skills. I personally do not think anything can truly prepare your for a situation like this other than living through it.”

Lynn Meyers graduated from the CTC Associate Degree in Nursing program in December 2012 and has since worked in the Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit at Baylor Scott and White Hospital in Temple. “Before we had our first positive COVID-19 patient, I volunteered to be on the COVID-19 team for receiving patients,” Said Meyers. “The training we went through was very similar to the Ebola training I volunteered for years ago. But instead of a specific COVID-19 team, it was decided to then go all hands on deck instead of a specialized team and everyone would receive the necessary training.”

In his unit, Meyers sees only patients under investigation for COVID-19. “These are the patients who meet the criteria to be tested and have symptoms,” said Meyers. “And these are the patients I come across.”

In addition to the specialized training he received at Baylor Scott and White, Meyers said the hands-on training he received at CTC helped better prepare him for coping with the current pandemic. “The education from CTC, and especially what we learned in clinicals, was extremely beneficial. We learned to be adaptable and that is truly helping us better respond to the current COVID-19 situation.”

Also working at Baylor Scott and White is James McGregor, a bedside registered nurse and relief charge nurse on the Cardiac Care Unit/4. His duties as a bedside nurse include monitoring the patient, assessing the patient, tracking vital signs, tracking intake and output, medication administration, monitoring labs, educating the patient on their disease process and the plan of care, admissions and discharges. As a charge nurse, McGregor’s duties include making assignments, staffing of the floor regarding census, supporting my nurses, guiding my nurses and protecting his nurses.

“Initially COVID patients were under the care of the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU),” said McGregor. “My floor was designated as the back-up/non critical COVID unit. When the need came to support our nurses in the MICU, non-critical COVID patients were transferred or admitted to my floor. I occasionally came to the COVID unit to help with lab draws. On shifts where I was the charge nurse, I would come down to support the nurses on the COVID Unit with whatever task they needed me.”

McGregor noted the hospital went through extraordinary lengths to prepare for a surge of COVID patients. “Conservation of PPE was crucial,” he said. “Extensive plans were created in the event of a critical need for ventilators and elective surgeries were postponed.”

Recalling the mass casualty scenario of his fourth semester training at CTC, McGregor felt the experience left a lasting imprint on how an individual nurse fits in the overall healthcare phenomenon. “While the mass casualty scenario was not directly similar to the pandemic, it provided insight as to how a large-scale event, such as this pandemic, affects the healthcare system across the board and our role in every aspect such as outpatient care, the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, Medical Surgical Unit, surgeries and the list goes on.”

In Bettendorf, Iowa, Jennifer Joyce works as a charge nurse at a family practice residency program for Genesis Healthcare System, A spring 2017, CTC graduate, her responsibilities include collecting test swabs and working in telephone triage. Joyce also serves as the designated nurse for symptomatic patients in her clinic and works float/backup status at the local level 2 trauma center. “COVID-19 has made us all very aware of the care that we provide and more specifically how we provide it,” said Joyce. “We have had to come up with out-of-the-box solutions that have required a lot of flexibility from all our medical support staff.”

Joyce noted it was all the little and basic things they were taught at CTC that are the most important now. She said, “CTC’s nursing program taught me the things we are educating the public on now - good infection control, thorough hand washing, the importance of donning and doffing PPE  in the proper order, making solid an sound recommendations for your patient, managing adrenaline and anxiety during a high stress event and most of all being an advocate for my patients.” 

Photos: Lynn Meyers receives the Caring Heart Award from nursing professor Gloria Smith during the fall 2013 pinning ceremony.

James McGregor (center) participates in the mass casualty training exercise held during the fall 2018 semester.

Original source can be found here.