National Nurses Week: COVID-19 Highs & Lows at Somerville Hospital – TAPinto.net
SOMERVILLE, NJ – They are the backbone of the health care system, and the lifeline between their patients and families, fueled by compassion and committed to providing comfort and care for their patients in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are 600 nurses on the staff of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital/Somerset, more than 25 percent of the entire workforce.
The vital role they play is in focus during National Nurses Week, May 6-12.
They function on the front lines of the pandemic, weighted down by the gravity of the illness and the need to be on top of their game throughout their shifts.
The nursing staff, and all 2,200 employees of the hospital, meet the challenge head-on each day, according to Tony Cava, president and CEO of RWJUH/Somerset.
Cava, who came to RWJUH/Somerset in 2015, has been in the health care profession for over 40 years.
“I have never in my career seen a group of nurses step up and meet a challenge like this,” he said. “To come back and do this day after day is an unbelievable site to see.”
,He wished them the best last Wednesday on the first day of National Nurses Week; he distributed this letter of thanks to the nursing staff:
Thank you! Those two words do not even come close to expressing how much gratitude our entire organization has for our nursing team.
You have shown – under the worse possible conditions – your bravery, valor, professionalism, compassion and skills like never before.
I am humbled and fortunate to be on your team. I wish you all much success; celebrate all the wonderful things you do – everyday – for all our patients.
HAPPY NURSES DAY!
With highest regards,
Tony
There are emotional highs and lows on a daily basis.
Monday will be a good day, highlighted by two events involving police agencies.
In the morning, there will be a celebratory “clap-out” as police officers from throughout the state will arrive at the hospital to greet Essex County Corrections Officer Sgt. Andrew C. Crooks, a North Plainfield resident, who will be discharged after he was hospitalized March 24 with (COVID-19), spending considerable time on a respirator.
Police vehicles will escort Crooks to Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in Marlton after his discharge.
Early in the evening, the Middlesex-Somerset PBA Conference will have a caravan of police and rescue vehicles from 20 municipalities participate in a drive around the hospital to show their support for the medical staff; on April 3, the Somerville Elks organized a similar drive-by that had several hundred vehicles filled with local residents pay tribute to the staff with homemade signs and flags flying out their windows.
Crooks’ is the second high-profile “clap-out” at the hospital in two weeks. On May 4 nurses and medical personnel lined the hallways and crowded the hospital lobby to celebrate the discharge of its 500th coronavirus patient, South Amboy resident Ruth Ikan.
“Clap-outs” are the celebratory farewell to those patients who have survived COVID-19, capped off by the George Harrison song, “Here Comes the Sun.”
It was also a special day for Ikan’s sister, Amelia de Asa-Weiland, a registered nurse and clinical coordinator at RWJUH/Somerset, who guided her sister in a wheel chair through the gauntlet of well-wishers.
The clap outs are occurring with more frequency, as discharges have outnumbered COVID-19 admissions for the past several weeks, according to Cava,
Yet, there are still somber moments. Cava witnessed one recently during his daily rounds of the hospital floors.
He encountered a critical care nurse outside the door of a patient’s room; she had just come into the hallway after spending 15 minutes on the phone with her patient talking to her four children.
“She was crying, emotionally spent,” Cava said. “Those kinds of things are happening on a regular basis.”
Because hospitals have had to curtail visits by family and friends, nurses are now the primary contact between the patient and family members, using their I-Pads and the Face Time app to communicate.
“They not only provide clinical care, but emotional care,” Cava said. “They step up and do what they can to fill that void,” he added. “Nurses have become surrogate family members.
“All of this is taking a toll on our staff, physically, emotionally and mentally,” Cava added. “It’s a key factor for sure, the emotional nature of this disease.”
RWJUH/Somerset does offer counseling as part of its employee assistance program.
Mike Valendo, Chief Nursing Officer at RWJUH, has also been impressed and gratified by the never-ending commitment of the nursing staff.
“Covid is our new norm and we’ve adapted to it,” he said.
He pointed to the “resiliency” of the nursing staff and their ability to adapt to the new protocols and working conditions.
“A number of staff had to learn new work flows, and dust off some skills they had from a previous point in their career,” he said.
“There’s been new guidance and recommendations, some changes within the same day from the state, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention), other professional societies. Their ability to learn, apply those changes to their work has been remarkable,” Valendo said.
“We have a really good team here,” he added.
Kim Mitter., a registered nurse who has worked 13 years at RWJUH/Somerset, moved from the cardiac care unit to work with COVID-19 patients.
“We just pretty much found out we were going to get COVID patients,” she said. “We just pulled together to get ready to take care of sick people. That’s what we do, even though this is more dangerous, but we have the proper equipment, and we were ready. We understood this was a crisis; everything was explained to us, and we were onboard with it.”
Some days are tougher than others, according to Mitter.
“It is difficult, you are a little scared but as a nurse you have to pull it together for the patient and remember that you’re there for them and will do everything you can to help them,” Mitter said. She cares for 2-5 patients daily.
“We all take extra care when we go into o room; we hold their hands if they feel scared, reassure them as much as we can, we just try and make them feel as comfortable as they can; we try and make them feel that we’re there for them,” she said.
“Sometimes I take the IPad into the room to have their family speak to the patient fi they are not doing so well.”
Nurses appreciate the gestures that have become commonplace at the hospital since the pandemic broke out – meals donated by individuals and organizations like FLAG of Somerville (Front Line Appreciation Group), the Elks’ drive-by – “just knowing that people appreciate everything we do.”
Phone calls from a patient’s family also give the nurses a lift.
“It makes us feel great when they say ‘thank you’ for taking care of my family member,” she said.
At the end of the day, Mitten washes up, changes her clothes, and drives to her home in Monmouth County; she is married with two kids, 7 and 12 years old.
“My husband is definitely concerned for me, which is natural, the kids too, but I reassure them that I’m careful and have all the equipment I need,” she said.
They wear masks nd practice social distancing at home.
“The only thing that upsets my kids is when they want to hug me and I say, ‘no, not now, later on.’ ”
To compensate, Mitter and her kids “air hug.”
“We stretch out our arms and curve our hands a little bit,”
The following is an abbreviated timeline of events associated with international, national and state recognition of the nursing profession:
1974 In January of that year, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) proclaimed that May 12 would be “International Nurse Day.” (May 12 is the birthday of Florence Nightingale.) Since 1965, the ICN has celebrated “International Nurse Day.”
1974 In February of that year, a week was designated by the White House as National Nurse Week, and President Nixon issued a proclamation.
1978 New Jersey Governor Brendon Byrne declared May 6 as “Nurses Day.”
1981 ANA, along with various nursing organizations, rallied to support a resolution initiated by nurses in New Mexico, through their Congressman, Manuel Lujan, to have May 6, 1982, established as “National Recognition Day for Nurses.”
1982 In February, the ANA Board of Directors formally acknowledged May 6, 1982 as “National Nurses Day.” The action affirmed a joint resolution of the United States Congress designating May 6 as “National Recognition Day for Nurses.”
1982 President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation on March 25, proclaiming “National Recognition Day for Nurses” to be May 6, 1982.
1990 The ANA Board of Directors expanded the recognition of nurses to a week-long celebration, declaring May 6-12 1991, as National Nurses Week.
1993 The ANA Board of Directors designated May 6-12 as permanent dates to observe National Nurses Week in 1994 and in all subsequent years.
1996 The ANA initiated “National RN Recognition Day” on May 6, 1996, to honor the nation’s indispensable registered nurses for their tireless commitment 365 days a year. The ANA encourages its state and territorial nurses associations and other organizations to acknowledge May 6, 1996 as “National RN Recognition Day.”