Page 10 - KMAland Healthcare Heroes

LOOKING BACK ON
10 A Salute to KMAland Healthcare Heroes KMAland 2021

2020

Jess Kane Jen Chambers

Jess Kane and Jen staff education and brush would never have to use reaching our exam rooms.
Chambers, MedSurg and up on our PPE protocols them. Our materials man- It was a sinking feeling to
ER Managers at Clarinda just like we had several agement staff worked tire- take care of an emergent
Regional Health Center years ago with the Ebola lessly to ensure we had an patient only to find out
scare. We were hopeful adequate supply of gowns, they tested positive when
hen I think that we would be left over- gloves, masks, and hand the results came back days
back to early prepared and unscathed. sanitizer. We were as pre- later. ER nurses are used
WMarch 2020, Soon it was obvious that pared as we could be. to jumping into emergent
a lot of emotions over- this was not going to be Our lives changed, just situations without hesita-
whelm me. We saw the the case. We worked long like it did for the rest of tion. Now, they have to
news stories on this mys- hours to review protocols the world, but for frontline pause, dress in their PPE
tery virus as it spread in and procedures, we held staff, I think it was differ- and then tend to their
China, to Europe, then to socially distanced meet- ent. Positive patients pre- patient. MedSurg nurses
the U.S. and were shook ings, attended webinars sented to the Emergency experienced similar situa-
when it made its way to to hear from experts, and Department at random, tions. We would care for a
the Midwest. I remember studied countless CDC regardless of the screening patient for days using what
early on being hopeful updates. We trained nurs- procedures we used at the we now consider standard
we would go through the es to feel comfortable with doors, there was no way of precautions of a mask and
motions of increasing our ventilators and prayed we preventing COVID from gloves. Days later the