CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2020 - 11

COLLEGE

CU NURSING'S ROLE
INCLUDES TRAINING HEALTH
CARE PROVIDERS IN THE
NEWLY BUILT HOSPITAL
Allen worked closely with faculty member Scott Harpin, DNP, MPH who was
also a member of the SEOC. His role
included assessing staffing and training
needs of the field hospitals. His training
videos for health care workers at the
hospitals are required before staff can
work at the facility. "Even though Dr.
Harpin has not served in the military,
he fit perfectly as he has a similar 'can
do' attitude," said Allen.

Reveling in making something "superhuman happen," Allen said it
was great to see real teamwork in
action. "It was very collaborative,
not authoritarian. The person with
the best idea wins. Not the person
who shouts the loudest or has the
most experience. The truth is - who
has experience with building in a
pandemic? None of us."

to use my skills for something this important," said Allen.

NEXT STEPS FOR ALLEN

Allen who has served in the Army since 2013, is transitioning
to civilian life and will begin her education with CU Nursing
in the fall when she starts the Master in Nurse-Midwifery
program. She chose midwifery because during most of her
Army career she worked in cultural support, specifically with
women. While in Afghanistan, she provided much-needed
outreach and health resources to the women in the community. "Being a woman and reaching out to women about their
health needs established a level of trust and credibility, which
in turn helped achieve Army goals," Allen noted.

"This has been a great experience. I
met and worked with such amazing
people and am proud to have been able

After helping to build something so big in such a short
timeframe, Allen's up for the challenge of the nurse-midwifery program.

Nurse's Action
Gets Results
By Dana Brandorff

hen CU Nursing PhD student
Brittni Goodwin, MSN, RN,
realized there weren't enough N95
masks for her colleagues at area
hospitals, she went to work to get the needed
supplies. Like many health care professionals,
Goodwin felt the need to help co-workers who
were being stretched so intensely during the
Covid-19 outbreak. "It's a bit like survivor's guilt.
I felt I wasn't doing enough," said Goodwin who
is a NICU nurse at Children's Hospital.
She started small by contacting local tattoo
parlors and dental practices and got 150
surgical masks and other items. She then asked
herself "How can I have a bigger impact?"
After reading articles that people were
hoarding, she became concerned that health
care workers would not have enough personal
protection equipment (PPE) to protect
themselves. So, she sent a message to Home
Depot pleading with them to reserve the

supply of N95 masks for health care workers.
"I didn't expect anything," said Goodwin, a
nurse at Children's Hospital and PhD student
in CU Nursing's Caring Science program. The
surprise came when Home Depot responded
and asked where she wanted the masks to be
delivered.
Caught off guard, she provided them
with her home address. Within days, she
had 11,000 N95 masks in her garage. Not
knowing where to distribute, she contacted
Associate Professor Teri Hernandez, PhD,
RN, Associate Dean for Research and

Scholarship at CU College of Nursing to
determine the best way to mobilize so most
Colorado health care workers could have
access to the supply. Dr. Hernandez got
to work and arranged for 10,000 masks
to be delivered to CU Anschutz Medical
Campus on April 6, where thousands of
health care workers are employed by UC
Health University of Colorado Hospital
and Children's Hospital of Colorado. The
remaining masks will be distributed to rural
clinics in Colorado.
Now, that's what you call teamwork!

CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2020

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