Maureen Reynolds

Maureen Reynolds, BSN, RN

at St. Joseph Health

JENNY TWITCHELL Special to The Eagle

For Maureen Reynolds, BSN, RN, welcome to nursing meant welcome to COVID.

Reynolds graduated in nursing from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville in 2018 and started working at a short stay cardiac unit, as part of the new graduate program at CHI St. Joseph Health Regional Hospital. She immediately enjoyed gaining experience and learning about cardiac patients for 18 months. Then, COVID hit.

The shorty stay unit became a COVID unit, and Reynolds said she and every member on her unit who could volunteer to stay and be a COVID nurse, did.

“We went through all the surges together; we worked figuring it out one day at a time,” Reynolds said while describing what it was like to be short on personal protective equipment, reusing N95 masks, and running out of space in the intensive care unit. “It was not fun.”

During the chaos of COVID, Reynolds started training as a charge nurse and continued to work the floor while she also trained new nurses.

In September 2021, she transitioned into the role of clinical nurse educator for the monitor pod where she coordinates education, helps manage new hires and their training, and makes sure everyone stays up to date on their core competencies to provide the best care for the community as possible.

Her intense experiences during the height of the pandemic accelerated her training and skills, allowing her to advance quickly in her career, Reynolds said.

“We kind of jokingly say that one COVID year should count for three nursing years,” Reynolds said. “It very much ages you. You really had to learn to step up and be able to manage really intense situations and manage because there wasn’t the help you normally get, so definitely I would say it increased my experience level and definitely comfort level because now when I take a really sick patient, I think, ‘I got this,’ whereas before it was something a little more scary.”

Perhaps the most difficult part of working during the height of the pandemic was the isolation, Reynolds said. As a single individual living alone who did not want to put anyone at risk, she was strict about isolation.

“That was a wild time,” she said. “Gosh, we really leaned on each other at work. We have a phenomenal team. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

The stress and challenges got to a point where Reynolds said she was not doing well, and a cousin “forced” her to get into therapy, she said.

“Therapy helped a ton,” Reynolds said. “Later, I was diagnosed with post traumatic syndrome disorder in relation with what I went through, which is a very common issue with a lot of healthcare workers that were working during COVID. After I got diagnosed with PTSD, things started to make more sense.”

As Reynolds started to open up about her diagnosis and feelings, she learned that many of her coworkers felt the same things. She decided to begin an internal support group for coworkers who went through the stress of COVID.

“That was honestly the biggest thing I did to help myself because it was so isolating and you feel crazy, weak, and not good enough because we are nurses; we are control freaks - you won’t meet a nurse who’s not a little bit of a control freak, and we care for people and you don’t want to feel like a failure, but when you can’t care for someone, that’s how you feel,” Reynolds said. “But hearing you’re not a failure from someone who is in it with you, or who you feel you can believe because they saw it happen, they saw there was nothing else you could do, it really helps.”

The support group also strengthens relationships and comradery that naturally built up while working 12 to 15 hour shifts together during the crisis. It was through that comradery that Reynolds said she learned to ask for help.

“That was probably the biggest thing, learning to say, ‘Its ok to ask for help’ and learning that what you are going through is trauma, and it’s not easy,” Reynolds said. “I’ve been very open throughout this process. I think that how open I’ve been about my journey has allowed other people to come to me and be open with me and build those relationships.”

Reynolds’ compassion is one reason why she stands out as a nurse, said Brandy Lapaglia, MSN, RN, and the director of nursing support at St. Joseph.

“Maureen is one of our nurse educators but also works at the bedside – she is passionate about helping people grow and teaching new people,” Lapaglia said. “She is a fierce patient advocate and one of the most enthusiastic people – whenever there is something new or whenever I need a volunteer to help with a project, she always says, ‘I’ll do that. I’ll help you,’ and plus she’s always a joy to work with.”

Seeing Reynolds step up during COVID was a determining factor to getting her where is now in her career, Lapaglia said.

Her sense of humor helps as well. She likes to pass out tiny, plastic dinosaurs to teammates as motivators.

“It’s just kind of random,” Lapaglia said. “When you do something well or when you see someone has a plastic dinosaur, you know they did something to impress Maureen.”