PA College Magazine - Spring 2021 - 3

SECOND
OPINION

Q
A

Given the dramatic events of the
past year, what are you most hopeful
about as we move forward?
Our experts weigh in.

"

"

"

Renee Logan Heller '20,
BSN, RN 

Bianca Cruz '14, MSN,
ENP-C, FNP-C  

Jill Stauffer '16, '20,
BSN, RN

Emergency Medicine, Lancaster General Health

Nurse Practitioner, Lancaster Emergency Associates

Emergency Medicine, Lancaster General Health

My hope for the future really
revolves around getting greater
community support in our fight
against COVID-19. I look forward
to a future where more people are
vaccinated and compliant with mask
and social distancing guidelines so
we can effectively get a handle on
COVID-19. It can sometimes feel
like we, in emergency medicine, are
trying to put out a fire while many
others are pouring gasoline on said
fire. To actually get back to our
" normal " lives, we need people to
support each other and do the
right thing for the whole of the
community.

This year has been hard on everyone,
no matter where they have found
themselves. Part of the draw of nursing
is true human interaction, which
has been greatly limited during the
pandemic. Patients are not able to
have the connection they hope for
during their time in the ER, and nurses
would prefer to be at the bedside
unrestricted, providing care and
comfort to the patients and families;
this is what I miss the most. My hopes
are that widespread implementation
of the vaccine is the light at the end of
a very long tunnel in which humanity
has felt trapped. Living and working
on the front lines in the midst of a
global pandemic [inspires] hope in me
that this can be a catalyst for greater
interest in public health and education
across the board. I am hopeful that
healing is coming; I am looking forward
to being part of the solution.

I hope for a day when I can see my
elderly patients smile again, or see
toddlers not cower in fear at my
masked and gowned figure. So many
of these moments have been stolen
from us by COVID-19: moments to
connect, to empathize and, in many
ways, to heal. It is often difficult to
imagine the ER where I work taking
on its pre-COVID-19 look again. No
masks, no isolation gowns, no scrub
caps, no goggles ... it even sounds a
little crazy after [so many] months of
COVID-19 precautions. I think the
uncertainty and fear due to the lack
of knowledge of this novel virus
has started to melt away as time
and research march on, and I look
forward to the day we are looking
at COVID-19 in our rear-view
mirrors. n

PA College / Spring 2021

3
PA College Magazine - Spring 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PA College Magazine - Spring 2021
