Carrie Carpanzano
Sarah Schwarzkoff
Amy Arntz
Misty Fagan
Jenny Williams
Stacy Stitt
Rita Anderson
Jennifer Harry
Alexis Miller
Anoopa Antony
Laurie Mack
Jennifer Ransford
Lisa Doty
Justin Taylor
Debra Cramer
Nikkole Sampson
Jen Tellone
Leo Grullon
Sarah Schwarzkoff
Amy Arntz
Misty Fagan
Jenny Williams
Stacy Stitt
Rita Anderson
Jennifer Harry
Alexis Miller
Anoopa Antony
Laurie Mack
Jennifer Ransford
Lisa Doty
Justin Taylor
Debra Cramer
Nikkole Sampson
Jen Tellone
Leo Grullon
May 2021
Morton
Msicu
Morton Plant Hospital
Clearwater
,
FL
United States
Anderson, Rita CN II
Anderson, Tiffanie CN II
Antony, Anoopa CN II
Arntz, Amy CN II
Carney, Melissa CN II
Carpanzano, Carrie CN II
Crotty, Karen CN II
Cusack, Jenyfer CN II
Fagan, Mistie CN II
Gonsalves, Betty CN II
Harry, Jennifer RN Nurse Manager
Hatton, Patricia CN II
Klein, Erika CN II
Landon, Bri CN II
Lasky, Jordyn CN II
Le, Paul CN II
Mack, Laurie Assistant Nurse Manager
Mastrangelo, Whitney CN II
McGibney, Scott CN II
Murray, Erin CN II
Narula, Johana CN II
Person, Tammy CN II
Pettit, Claudia CN III
Prudente, Silvana CN II
Schwartzkoff, Sarah CN II
Shea, Michele CN II
Sweeney, Scott CN III
Taylor, Justin CN II
Tellone, Jennifer Assistant Nurse manager
Vandenbosch, Nicole CN II
Willard, Sara CN II
Williams, Jenny CN II
Grullon Leo BCP CN II
Hodge, Amanda BCP CN II
Carrol Gibbs, Stefani PST
Munger, Joshua PST
Bevilacqua, Dana PST
Miller, Alex PST
Morades, Justin PST
Kuhn, Christine BCP CN II
Westbrook, Bia BCP CN II
Weisen, Diem BCP CN II
Cox, Monica BCP CN II
Sudek, Jeanie CN II
Schoenberg, Stacy CN II
Englehard, Shawn BCP CN II
Anderson, Tiffanie CN II
Antony, Anoopa CN II
Arntz, Amy CN II
Carney, Melissa CN II
Carpanzano, Carrie CN II
Crotty, Karen CN II
Cusack, Jenyfer CN II
Fagan, Mistie CN II
Gonsalves, Betty CN II
Harry, Jennifer RN Nurse Manager
Hatton, Patricia CN II
Klein, Erika CN II
Landon, Bri CN II
Lasky, Jordyn CN II
Le, Paul CN II
Mack, Laurie Assistant Nurse Manager
Mastrangelo, Whitney CN II
McGibney, Scott CN II
Murray, Erin CN II
Narula, Johana CN II
Person, Tammy CN II
Pettit, Claudia CN III
Prudente, Silvana CN II
Schwartzkoff, Sarah CN II
Shea, Michele CN II
Sweeney, Scott CN III
Taylor, Justin CN II
Tellone, Jennifer Assistant Nurse manager
Vandenbosch, Nicole CN II
Willard, Sara CN II
Williams, Jenny CN II
Grullon Leo BCP CN II
Hodge, Amanda BCP CN II
Carrol Gibbs, Stefani PST
Munger, Joshua PST
Bevilacqua, Dana PST
Miller, Alex PST
Morades, Justin PST
Kuhn, Christine BCP CN II
Westbrook, Bia BCP CN II
Weisen, Diem BCP CN II
Cox, Monica BCP CN II
Sudek, Jeanie CN II
Schoenberg, Stacy CN II
Englehard, Shawn BCP CN II
We found a way to push aside our fears and smile through it, because it wasn't about us. It was about the patients.
When I transferred into MSICU 10 years ago, I was blown away. I came from an exceptional team that I thought would be impossible to compare to, and I was sorely mistaken. The level of teamwork, compassion, collaboration, and support in this unit is beyond anything I have seen in any unit I have worked in. As the COVID 19 pandemic loomed and expanded into our area, we faced a challenge the likes of which none of us had ever experienced. We got our first COVID patient in the unit, then another, and then another. It was then decided that our team would be trading floors with CCU, converting to negative pressure and we would from then on be the "COVID ICU".
The level of anxiety at that point in time was understandably high. We faced a dangerous virus with little knowledge of how to treat it, how it was contracted, or what the survival rates would be. Images of overrun hospitals in Italy flashed in our heads. We were all terrified, but we didn't have time to dwell on our fear. We packed up our entire unit and our patients and moved two floors up to CCU. Some physicians then became ill with the virus. Several of us were quarantined due to exposure, and a few more of us became ill as well. We cared for one particular beloved patient with COVID for 5 weeks in our ICU, and that patient became part of our family. We spoke with the spouse multiple times a day and face-timed several times a day so that the spouse could see the patient for just a few minutes. We decorated the room with signs and pictures of the family. We lined the halls for the "Code Sunshine" when that patient finally left our hospital to go to rehab, and we clapped and cried because the patient was a victory for us in a time when we desperately needed it. The spouse is still in contact with several of our nurses and keeps us posted on the patient's miraculous recovery.
Our team sat with patients who were lonely, isolated, and scared. We held hands with patients as they died because their families could not be with them. We face-timed families so that they could see their loved ones one last time before they passed away. Some of our team brought in word puzzles, magazines, and books to give to COVID patients who were in our unit for weeks at a time with no interaction with the outside world, except their daily face time with their families. We found a way to push aside our fears and smile through it, because it wasn't about us. It was about the patients. They were scared and alone, and they needed us to reassure them it was going to be okay. It was a time of profound uncertainty, stress, and sadness. Through all of this, we found ways to cope. We made a memo board with funny pictures to make us smile. We started writing a "joke of the day" on our whiteboard every morning. One of our nurses made a collage with all our names on hearts that said," we are all in this together" in the center. And we were. We stayed together. We held each other up. We adapted. We laughed together. We cried together. We are stronger than we have ever been.
The level of anxiety at that point in time was understandably high. We faced a dangerous virus with little knowledge of how to treat it, how it was contracted, or what the survival rates would be. Images of overrun hospitals in Italy flashed in our heads. We were all terrified, but we didn't have time to dwell on our fear. We packed up our entire unit and our patients and moved two floors up to CCU. Some physicians then became ill with the virus. Several of us were quarantined due to exposure, and a few more of us became ill as well. We cared for one particular beloved patient with COVID for 5 weeks in our ICU, and that patient became part of our family. We spoke with the spouse multiple times a day and face-timed several times a day so that the spouse could see the patient for just a few minutes. We decorated the room with signs and pictures of the family. We lined the halls for the "Code Sunshine" when that patient finally left our hospital to go to rehab, and we clapped and cried because the patient was a victory for us in a time when we desperately needed it. The spouse is still in contact with several of our nurses and keeps us posted on the patient's miraculous recovery.
Our team sat with patients who were lonely, isolated, and scared. We held hands with patients as they died because their families could not be with them. We face-timed families so that they could see their loved ones one last time before they passed away. Some of our team brought in word puzzles, magazines, and books to give to COVID patients who were in our unit for weeks at a time with no interaction with the outside world, except their daily face time with their families. We found a way to push aside our fears and smile through it, because it wasn't about us. It was about the patients. They were scared and alone, and they needed us to reassure them it was going to be okay. It was a time of profound uncertainty, stress, and sadness. Through all of this, we found ways to cope. We made a memo board with funny pictures to make us smile. We started writing a "joke of the day" on our whiteboard every morning. One of our nurses made a collage with all our names on hearts that said," we are all in this together" in the center. And we were. We stayed together. We held each other up. We adapted. We laughed together. We cried together. We are stronger than we have ever been.