When Madison Eads arrived at the Ridge Wood Terrace, a nursing home, she joined a limited staff on a journey to help fight the spread of COVID-19. "When we arrived at the unit there was only one registered nurse, a med-tech, and three aides for the three halls," Eads said.

At the age of 20, Eads, who is a second-semester nursing student, was fighting a global pandemic in a facility that had seen over 60 cases. As one of the many people in the Commonwealth to offer themselves as a volunteer, Eads said, "The only criteria for the volunteerism was to be a nursing, medical, or pharmacy student willing to volunteer and face COVID in a direct setting."

She received an automated phone call requesting her presence at a specific location on a certain date. While Eads served for one week at the nursing home facility, she said she gained a lot of experience. She performed the work of a certified nurse aid (CNA), which she was already working as, and helped the registered nurses at the facility.

Eads said she volunteered because she is healthy and young. "This virus targets people of increasing age. When I received the phone call asking if I would be willing to go, I was so excited because that meant I could go and help people in need."

Volunteering meant Eads would not be compensated monetarily. However, Eads said when she first arrived at the facility it didn't matter because she knew she was helping people who desperately needed it. "The smiles and the relationships you build with those people are the rewards of the experience," Eads said.

She worked from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and still managed to work on her nursing classes. Eads was paired with a University of Kentucky medical student and a pharmacy student who both had little experience with aid work. "I spent the first day teaching them a crash course in CNA work and helping the nurses in between." Eads, being the only CNA volunteer, said she learned things from the medical and pharmacy students while they learned things from her.

Eads also said she got to experience a wide variety of skills including checking glucose levels and giving medication through a G-tube, and she assisted with assessing and preparing patients being sent to the hospital.