FACULTY ON THE FRONT LINES: JMU NURSING FACULTY ASSIST WITH COVID-19 CONTACT TRACING EFFORTS By Victoria Martineau Heim When news of the COVID-19 outbreak reached the JMU and Harrisonburg local community earlier this year, School of Nursing faculty were ready to help. Professor Maria Gilson deValpine recalled, “When the local outbreak revealed itself, I just called up [friend Deborah Bundy-Carpenter, Nurse Manager for the Central Shenandoah Health District] and asked if I could help out. She said YES.” Professor Emerita Sharon Zook shared the same call to action. “I was feeling useless being retired during the worst
healthcare crisis of our era,” she said. “I contacted a NP [nurse practitioner] friend who works for VDH [Virginia Department of Health] and asked if there was anything I could do to help. Within ten minutes I got an email from Deborah Bundy-Carpenter asking me to call her. I did, talked for a few minutes, and she hired me.” Both deValpine and Zook, along with Professor Linda Hulton and JMU Student Health Services Director of Nursing and Clinical Operations Kristina Blyer (’16 DNP), began work on case investigations
“Nurses are particularly good at case investigation and contact tracing by virtue of their education...”
JMU Nursing professor
SCHOOL OF NURSING MAGAZINE
According to the CDC, contract tracing is described as a “part of the process of supporting patients and warning contacts of exposure in order to stop chains of transmission” (cdc.gov, 2020). As Hulton explained, “This is good ole fashioned ‘shoe leather epidemiology’ where you look for contacts of people who test positive, offer them testing, information on how to take care of themselves, and to care for and protect those around them.”
“I contacted a NP [nurse practitioner] friend who works for VDH [Virginia Department of Health] and asked if there was anything I could do to help.” – Maria Gilson deValpine
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and contact tracing for the Central Shenandoah Health District immediately.
