PA College Magazine - 11

PA COLLEGE / FEATURE

to be able to help and not put them at any risk." (At the end of
June, the Courtyard reached 45 days of no COVID cases.) 
Jessica Radabaugh, LPN, ASN '20, at Luther Acres, a Lititz
retirement community, was worried, too. "When we got our
first positive [case] I was very anxious," she says. "My mindset
changed after a day or two when I realized that I am all these
residents have. Families are restricted and can't visit, and [after
our first positive], so many workers quit or refused to work with
COVID. That's when I learned that nursing really is my true
passion. I stepped up and chose to work on the COVID team."
Working 60 to 70 hours a week, she was doing complete care,
plus LPN duties. One day, as Radabaugh was helping a resident
into bed, the patient grabbed her hand. "She teared up and said,
'Thank you for choosing to take care of us.'" Radabaugh teared
up as well, replying, "There's no need to thank me. This is my
job, and I will be here every day to take care of you."
Pandemic patient interactions have transformed how Radabaugh
provides care. Before, she would usually move quickly in and
out of a room. "Now that the residents are confined to their
rooms and cannot have visits from family, I make sure I spend
more of my time with them," she says.
COVID-19 has changed other nursing students, professionally
and personally. Tiffany Heim, LPN, ASN '22, BSN '24, a triage
nurse at Lancaster's LG Health Physicians Manor Ridge Family
Medicine, witnessed the center's hard pivot to virtual visits
when Manor Ridge closed for in-person visits in March and
early April. Using the BlueJeans app, she got a crash-course in
telemedicine, a health care direction that, in early 2020, most
health care professionals would have said was years off. Born
of necessity, it's now part of health care's "new normal."
When the offices were closed to in-person visits, the Manor
Ridge staff continued to see its typical 100 patients daily, via
virtual visits and some visits in the parking lot. Today, the office
is back to 80 percent in-person appointments, with a few new
care options. "During the pandemic, Lancaster General Hospital
started a high-risk lab, which we used to monitor our high-risk
patients, and we utilized more in-home lab services," she says.
Part of Heim's "new normal" is her post-work routine. The
mother of three children under 10, she no longer hugs her children
when she comes in the door. First, she showers and puts on
clean clothes; work shoes remain in the car and scrubs are
washed separately. "Sad as it is," she says, "my kids have adapted
to me saying 'Don't touch Mommy!' when I come in the door."
The pandemic has shifted the career trajectory of Jonatan
Quintino Juarez, ASN '21, who served as a medical assistant for

"

Now that the residents are confined to their rooms and
cannot have visits from family, I make sure I spend more
of my time with them.

	

- Jessica Radabaugh, L PN, ASN '20

Penn Medicine's HIV clinic until early June. In mid-June, Juarez
transitioned to serving as a contact tracer for Penn Medicine
Lancaster General Health. "I wanted to work directly with the
pandemic without exposing myself directly to the virus," he
says of his remote role contacting those who test positive for
COVID-19 or have been exposed to the virus.
"As a contact tracer, sometimes the phone calls feel like therapy,
but I want to give the best care I can," he says. He is concerned
about the mental health issues created by the pandemic,
particularly among health care workers. To cope, he's doubled
down on exercise, yoga and meditation to handle the sadness
and strain of being a full-time health care worker in a pandemic
while taking courses online at PA College.
As someone living in the United States under the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program - and one
of 33,000 DACA health care workers - Juarez also endured
the anxiety of waiting for the Supreme Court ruling on the
fate of the "Dreamers," which came in June. "DACA, for now,
stays, which is amazing, but the ruling basically determined that
the administration did not properly phase out the program, so
deportation is still on the table," Juarez says.
Throughout these months, he's sought solace and inspiration
from coworkers. "The spirit of health care workers, from
housekeepers to surgeons, is unbeatable," Juarez says. "We're
a family who cares and advocates for each other. It's taken a
village to handle the unknown." n

PA College / Fall 2020

11
PA College Magazine

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