125080308_web1_Jim-Colton1

Penn College team helps build Italy’s new Living Chapel

Orders for US big-ticket factory goods drop 17.2% in April

I graduated from the LCCC Nursing program in 2015.
				I participated in the night program while I was pregnant with my son and also was working in the ER as a tech/secretary until I finished my nursing degree. After I graduated, I started working in the ER at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. All of my training and experiences have led me to where I am today.
				In April, I left my home, husband and two children (Chance and Lena) to come to New York City to work in the hospital on a COVID-19 unit. Fortunately after I got here, the new cases slowed so there was not a need for me in the ER, but I have been working in the MICU with the vented coronavirus patients. It has been exhausting all days and heartbreaking most days. However, every once in a while there is a small glimmer of hope that shines through.
				Since coming to New York City, I have been through almost every emotion imaginable, and I have used almost every single nursing skill. There have been many times I have encountered something that I had to think back to skills labs at LCCC to remember how to do something.
				To be honest, I&rsquo;ve come to really appreciate basic nursing care.
				At the end of the day, these patients are alone since family are unable to visit. There is nothing to replace the therapeutic nature of a hand holding a hand. As a nurse, I am all that these patients have at the moment. I am the only hand to hold theirs. They look at me with their scared and exhausted eyes, and I tell them it is OK and that I will take very good care of them.
				Almost always, I see some of the fear fade away, and we begin a trust relationship. Basic nursing care is what these patients need most.
				While I was a student at LCCC, I don&rsquo;t know if I could honestly say that I ever would have expected myself to be doing something like this. Perhaps my mentors would say they would have expected it.
				I can never thank the faculty at LCCC enough for what they have taught me. The personal relationships I developed with all of them have continued after I graduated.
				The entire LCCC program is a large reason that I am able to go toward an emergency instead of run away; the reason I can push through exhaustion and deliver the best care that I am capable of; and mostly, the reason I can honestly say I am a great nurse.

Their view: Working on the front lines during a pandemic