In early March 2020, the Coronavirus began to impact the state of Georgia and the Atlanta area. Emory Healthcare and Emory University Hospital Midtown finalized plans for the management of the critically ill COVID-19 patients expected to present to EUHM. Peachtree ICU was designated as a COVID Unit as the critical care volumes continued to climb and have remained a COVID ICU since that time. The Peachtree ICU has experienced the challenge of frequent shifts in identity and patient population: this unit repeatedly became a COVID- designated unit, then an overflow ICU, and then a hybrid unit hosting both populations. They are the only ICU to both manage COVID patients and support the return of surgical ICU patients as our facility re-opened operating rooms and procedural areas to meet the needs of our communities. During this time, Peachtree ICU also experienced significant challenges when illness struck the team, causing staffing shortages amid the stress of managing an aggressively contagious and unknown virus. Six months later, Peachtree ICU is now an expert in the care and management of this very special population of COVID patients. Peachtree ICU is the home of a staff of nurses and providers who simply just do whatever is needed to serve the needs of our patients. We would like to recognize Cheryle Collins, Unit Director of Peachtree ICU, for her extraordinary leadership and devotion to the incredible team of nurses, nurse techs, unit clerks, and float staff who come in day after day and night after night to care for the patients who need them. Cheryle's passion for Peachtree ICU and the work they are doing never waivers. She provides leadership presence and support to every discipline and to every hospital team member who enters the unit. She never fails to share the stories of the patients and the teams caring for them, both the tragic losses and the amazing recoveries. She never fails to advocate for her nursing staff, translating the physical, emotional, and clinical demands of caring for COVID patients so that the rest of us can better support and protect the nurses and providers. Cheryle never waivers in her commitment and willingness to lead this nursing team as the mission continues. She serves us all as an exemplary model of nursing leadership, professional commitment, and personal strength.
As the Atlanta area began to shut down public spaces and large events, the Peachtree ICU staff and providers learned specialized protocols for donning and doffing personal protective equipment. The teams struggled with the fear of the unknown and worry about their own health and the health of their families. As the State of Emergency was declared, Cheryle and her team were focused on learning how to best reduce both contagions between patient and staff and the total isolation of the patients and the teams in the rooms with them. As shelter-in-place orders rolled out from community to community, this team was practicing proning, trialing vaccines, and administering Remdesivir, antibiotics, and steroids in an effort to reverse the disease. As the city of Atlanta slowed to a stop, Cheryle and her teams came to work, again and again, knowing they had tough shifts ahead that would end in physical and mental exhaustion. As the surrounding community banged pots, displayed high rise heart symbols, and donated meals in support of the healthcare teams, our nurses fought to save lives, stayed with their patients as they died, and celebrated when patients were able to transfer out of the ICU. Cheryle was the driving force that assured PPE was available, and when it wasn't she supported the recycling program so that long term our staff would stay protected. Cheryle innovated staffing models and created the "resource" nurse role so that the Peachtree ICU nurses would not have to leave the patient rooms as often. She provided solutions for saving facemasks and shields, for organizing equipment outside every room, and for enhancing communication with the staff and patients in the rooms. Cheryle ensured that the staff and providers had ready access to clerical support and group counseling. Cheryle was, and is, a physical presence on the unit, constantly monitoring, encouraging, and comforting her team. She often shares in providing patient care, and even assuming the role of a unit clerk so that the nurses would be free to care for their patients without interruption. Cheryle's reassuring presence and outstanding leadership abilities allowed the team to feel safe, and to know that they have the resources they need to give the best care possible. Cheryle lives the EHC motto "We are all in this together" and the Peachtree ICU nursing staff knows they are never alone in this or any other crisis.
Cheryle is a "get 'er done" type of leader, never losing sight of the mission, even when exhausted herself. She has never allowed the stress and anxiety that comes with leading through such a crisis to permeate to the staff. Cheryle stands out as a source of strength, caring, thoughtfulness, safety, quality, and reassurance not only during the COVID crisis but every day as she leads our nursing staff in Peachtree ICU. In honor of Cheryle's leadership and commitment, the Peachtree ICU has been deemed as a COVID-outstanding unit. Each staff member will receive the newly created DAISY COVID pin in recognition of your outstanding excellence in professional nursing care during this unprecedented healthcare challenge.