Working in the Covid Unit A Nurse's Perspective

WELCOME

New Faculty and Staff

Melissa Freeman, BSN,RN, IBCLC

BSN faculty member

Professor Freeman's background is in the Maternal-Child cluster as a staff nurse and nurse educator at CoxHealth. She had been a clinical adjunct with Cox College for a little over a year. She graduated from Cox College with her BSN in 2014 and from Southwest Baptist University with her MSN.

Tammy Decker, M.Ed, BSN, RN, RT(R)(M)

ASN faculty member

Professor Decker has been with CoxHealth for many years, and is a graduate of Cox Medical Center's School of Radiologic Technology, as well as Burge School of Nursing. She received her BSN from Southwest Baptist University and her Master’s in Education from Drury University. Most recently, Decker was an educator with the CMG Training and Education Team, working with staff and students that perform patient care in the clinic facilities of CoxHealth.

Amber Nichols, BSN, RN

ASN faculty member

Professor Nichols graduated from Cox College with her ASN in 2017, completed her BSN at Western Governors University, and is currently finishing her MSN degree. She will be a faculty member in the ASN program. Previously, she worked in the transitional care unit at the Meyer Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital.

Anna Whelan, BS

Student Success Advisor

This is a completely new role at Cox College. Anna will serve as an advisor for our RN-BSN & MSN programs while assisting with recruiting for all programs. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and finished her Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis this December.

Jill Latimer, BA

Admissions Recruiter

Jill graduated from Cameron University in Southwest Oklahoma with her Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communications. She is new to higher education, having spent most of her professional career serving as the director for substance use prevention grants. Jill loves talking and making connections with people. She is excited to use her skills to help prospective students through each step of the admissions process and start their journey towards a career in health care.

Alee Becker, BS

Admissions Recruiter

Alee Graduated from Missouri State this past May 2021 with a degree in Marketing Management. She spent four years recruiting for her sorority and serving as Vice President of Finance in her Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. Her employment includes time as a Digital Marketing Specialist for Chartwells which served Missouri State and she currently Freelances in Social Media and Website Design Management. Becker has also recently started a side business designing charcuteries.

Macee Curtis, BA

Administrative Assistant

Macee graduated in December 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Southwest Baptist University. Curtis is currently working on her Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Health Care Administration from SBU. Previously, she was a Medical Secretary for the Gastroenterology department at Cox South.

Tricia Remelius, BA

Faculty Support Specialist

Tricia is originally from St. Louis, but has lived in Springfield off and on since graduating from William Woods University in 1989. Each time she would move away she would invariably be drawn back to Springfield. Tricia is recently retired from the Springfield Public Schools where she worked as a Transportation Supervisor.

Andrew Adams, AS

Billing Specialist

Andrew arrived at Cox College after a bit of a career change. He is a culinary school graduate (New England Culinary Institute, Montpelier, Vermont) and a level 2 Certified Sommelier by the Court of Master Sommeliers. Andrew had worked at Mama Jean’s Markets as a Wine and Specialty Foods buyer for several years, but in 2016 returned to OTC and received an Associate’s degree in business. He then transferred to Missouri State University and is currently a senior majoring in Finance. In his spare time he likes to cook Mexican food for friends and family, and can normally be seen on the sidewalks of central Springfield walking his dog, Doogle.

Justin Davidson BS

Business Analyst

Justin received his Bachelor's degree in Economics from Missouri State University. He married his high school sweetheart and has a son. They are also "dog parents" to a six month old goldendoodle named Winnie.

Faculty/Staff UPDATES

Rank and Promotion Changes

Congratulations to Kyle Brashear, DHSc, MS, RD/LD and Carol Conley, Ed.D, MBA, BSN, who have successfully completed the Rank and Promotion process. Dr. Brashear’s new title is Full Professor. Dr. Conley, who received her doctorate last fall, will now be an Associate Professor.

Michelle Jackson, OTD, OTR/L, MBA

OT faculty member

In conjunction with her research mentor, Dr. Vanessa Jewell, a scoping review was completed examining training provided to individuals who interact with persons aged birth to 21 years old who have experienced or are experiencing trauma. This manuscript is a result of research completed during Dr. Jackson's time in the post-professional occupational therapy doctorate (POTD) program at Creighton University. “Educational Practices for Providers of Trauma-Informed Care: A Scoping Review” was published in the September-October 2021 issue of the Journal of Pediatric Nursing.

Dustin Cox DPT, PT, LSVT, CLT

OT faculty member

Developed a self-rated fidelity measure for clinicians that are learning Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. There is currently no self-rated fidelity measure widely available and Dr. Cox needed one for his dissertation project. He piloted the Self-Rated Fidelity Measure for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (SRFACT) during the summer of 2020 through an online survey for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy clinicians across the world. Cox was able to collect enough data to run outcomes on SRFACT and how it was used. He presented this information at the Association of Contextual and Behavior Sciences World Conference last summer.

Michelle Jacobs, DBA, MBA, BSN, RN

BSN faculty member

Michelle recently received a Doctorate of Business Administration in Leadership from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA this past spring. Her masters was an MBA in strategic leadership.

Amy Townsend, Ed.D, MSN, RN

Vice President Student Nursing

Dr. Amy Townsend, VP of Student Nursing at Cox College, is back at the bedside – as a SupportRN, a new position recently launched at CoxHealth. Support RNs assist floor nurses in managing the care of patients and is perfect for nurses who want to come back to the hospital and help, but with greater flexibility.

Leesa Taylor, BS

Financial Aid

Leesa received her Bachelor of Science in Christian Leadership and Management from Liberty University May 2021.

Cox College Board Member Retires

Ken Meyer retired this past year from his position on Cox College’s Board of Directors after many years of service. Ken is the Founder and former CEO of Meyer Communications in Springfield, Missouri. Pictured above is Ken Meyer with Cox College President, Dr. Amy DeMelo, Cox College Board Chair, Dr. Bob Lunn, and President of the CoxHealth Foundation, Lisa Alexander. We are thankful for Ken’s service to Cox College and for his positive influence on the entire southwest Missouri area!

Allison Rainey, BS

Student Affairs Coordinator

Allison accepted a new role at Cox College. Rainey will be the Student Affairs Coordinator. She was formerly an Admissions Counselor and worked with the marketing team as well. In her new role, she will retain those marketing duties, work with the records department, and will be instrumental in event planning.

Tina Toles, BS, CHSOS

Simulation Center

Tina completed her certification program to become a Certified Health Care Simulation Operations Specialist (CHSOS). She and the entire simulation team do a fantastic job training our students for professional careers in health care.

Bob Millstead Scholarship

A radiology scholarship has been established for the family of Bob Millstead following his passing last year. Bob served CoxHealth for many years as a clinical instructor for the Diagnostic Radiology Department. The scholarship will be awarded annually to a Cox College ASR or BSDI student showing excellence in the field. We are thankful for Bob’s contributions in the lives of our students. He was a wonderful man and will be greatly missed!

Donations can be made to the CoxHealth Foundation by scanning the QR code or by going to the CoxHealth Foundation giving page and typing “Millstead Scholarship” in the text box marked "gift to benefit."

Think About

Attract what you expect. Reflect what you desire. Become what you respect. Mirror what you admire.

- BrightOnTheDay.com

Musgrave Foundation Gifts College

In December 2021, The Jeanette L. Musgrave Foundation gifted $25,000 in scholarships for Cox College nursing students! Thank you SO much to the Musgrave Foundation for their overwhelming generosity, and thanks to the CoxHealth Foundation for helping make it possible.

Skaggs Foundation Gifts College

Branson is not immune to the nationwide nursing shortage and the Skaggs Foundation stepped up to help address the need. They recently awarded Cox College a $59,752 grant for nursing student scholarships. This grant provides funds for four full, one-year scholarships to senior nursing students. As part of the acceptance of these scholarships, the student agrees to secure employment for at least two years with an approved healthcare organization in Stone or Taney counties upon graduation. Incentivizing highly qualified Cox College nursing students to seek employment in the area is a much needed avenue to address this critical nursing shortage.

Occupational Therapy Department Sponsored Events

The Masters in Occupational Therapy Program is sponsoring seven Graduate Student Research Projects this year! Students are exploring a variety of topics including: • Exploring Home Building Professionals' experiences with Universal Design • Investigating OTs' role in serving clients with unstable housing • Understanding how OTs' use Health Promotion strategies with older adults • Creating a "Wellness Week" at Cox College in order to understand whether wellness activities are related to students' mood, stress, and concentration • Examining OTs' experiences with using telehealth in a school setting • Understanding OTs' experiences in providing sexuality education for clients with intellectual and developmental disorders • Exploring OTs' history of trauma-informed education in order to understand how OTs' use trauma-informed approaches in practice

If you would like to learn more or participate in these projects, please check out our Facebook page by scanning the QR code to the left.

Cox College Fall Commencement

153 graduates receive degrees

STOP THE BLEED

Students learn tourniquet techniques

Scanlon and Perez

Russ Scanlan, paramedic and educator; and George Perez, Special Operations Combat Medic (SOCM) clinical training coordinator for the military and CoxHealth, made a presentation in Professor Kathy Martin's NRSI 404 Entry Level Community Health class on October 26th in the Fountain Plaza Room. The presentation entitled Stop the Bleed is the result of a collaborative effort led by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) to teach bleeding control methods to the public.

During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, tourniquet training was widely adopted by the military after

In active shootings or major disasters, uncontrolled bleeding of extremities is the number-one cause of preventable deaths,” says paramedic and educator Russ Scanlan.

identifying a clear survival benefit. Following the increased knowledge pertaining to tourniquet use, a 2014 study was conducted demonstrating the effectiveness of direct pressure and wound packing on survival rates in an emergent situation. A combination of these techniques and the development of a bleeding control curriculum formed the foundation of the Stop the Bleed initiative that has been made available to the general public.

During the hour-long presentation, students were also given the opportunity to practice use of tourniquets and wound packing.

Occupational Therapy Program Early Application

By Dr. April Swanson We are reviewing early applications for new students entering OT school in 2022. Applicants to our program with a military background might be interested to know that Cox College's OT program has a clinical affiliation with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Walter Reed is a potential fieldwork placement for students with a military background. Please call me at 417-597-2797 for information concerning fieldwork or other general questions.

The winner of the Fall 2021 DAISY Award is Ian Burba of the BSN-A program! Other nominees were Travis Meritt, Taryn Russell, Maria Perez, Adria Keim, Kyla Parsons, Emily Mercer, and Alexandra Lurvey. Congratulations to all these awesome students!

Recipients of the DAISY Award can be nominated by faculty members or by other students.

Community Health (BSN Students)

Last Fall, BSN students in Community Health Nursing participating in a health fair for the the homeless, addicted, and poverty level Springfield residents.

The Health Fair included eye exams, haircuts, and health screening. Food was also distributed.

Students prepared and manned tables for blood pressure screening, blood sugar screenings, and provided resource education for food, shelter, blankets, tents, follow-up medical care, completion of emergency medical information forms, and diet changes.

Since this event, many students have returned on Saturdays to assist with child care, security food distribution, bus transportation, and food preparation. Observing the population, students were encouraged to share their journey along with future goals of interacting with the community. The class led by Professor Kathy Martin provides students with valuable insight by meeting the educational needs of both students and the health care community. Great job Professor Martin and Students!

Going Above and Beyond

We had to take this opportunity to brag on our students! If you’ve spent time at any CoxHealth facility, you have probably seen our students wearing green scrubs. Green scrubs are less common so students know they represent Cox College in the community or when they go to clinicals.

This candid photo was sent to us recently which shows two students helping someone with a flat tire at Cox South. They didn’t know this photo was taken, and didn’t stop until the job was done.

We’re proud, but not surprised, to see them helping someone in need and not expecting anything in return. Their passion is people, and that’s why they will make incredible health care professionals someday soon! Thanks for showing what it means to wear the Cox College green!

Students helping with COVID-19 surge

Due to the recent COVID-19 surge, many of our students are assisting CoxHealth in various support positions in the hospital. We’re proud of our students who are stepping up to the challenge and helping the health system in a time of need.

We may have exceptional faculty and a state-of-the-art simulation center, but there is no better training than being on the frontlines in a pandemic. Students, we applaud your courage and flexibility during these unusual circumstances.

Fall 2021 Dean's List

The 2021 Fall semester Dean’s List is here! Congratulations to these outstanding undergraduate students for maintaining at least a 3.50 GPA.

COVID COVIDin the in the WORKING UNIT:

A nurse's perspective A nurse's perspective

Story by and photos by Kaitlyn McConnell

Casey Sample BSN Class of 2019

loves (two pairs), suits, shields and more protect nurse Casey Sample from COVID-19. But they do not guard her completely.

They do not shield her heart – nor those of many others – from the hurt and ache that comes from walking within CoxHealth’s West Tower COVID ICU.

Shoe covers muffle the sound of her steps as she crosses the threshold, a contrast as the doors swing open and reveal an open space full of controlled chaos: Humming and beeping equipment, staff soaked in sweat, and patients who are extremely ill due to the viciousness of the virus behind COVID-19.

While it’s a place Casey never wanted or expected to be, it’s also a place the nurse has no intention of leaving.

“I’m here because I love my community. I love humanity and that goes for everybody I work alongside. We’re not there for the profit. We’re not there to perpetuate any political beliefs. We’re there because we care about people. We all took an oath. “We’re there because we want to help people. I don’t know if that’s silly to say, but that’s what it comes down to. I’m there because I want to save lives. I don’t want people to hurt.” MOMENTS TO REMEMBER

Thankfully, the majority of hospitalized COVID patients at CoxHealth do go home. Thousands have over the course of the pandemic, each time prompting “Here Comes the Sun” to play over the hospitals’ intercom system.

But for those in ICU, where Casey works, the course of the disease is much more grim. While health systems and providers do all they can, treatment for COVID is largely supportive at this time.

Around 40 percent of COVID ICU patients do not survive. “Nobody dies alone in there for me,” she says. “I’ll sit with them; I’ll pray with them. Whatever they need and then I’ll push the ‘good’ (pain) meds. I always tell them I have the ‘good’ meds. That’s kind of a little snicker for them at the end. I try to cut the sadness as much as I can, but…

We're there because we want to help people. I don't know if that's silly to say, but that's what it comes down to. I'm there because I want to save lives. I don't I want to save lives. I don't want people to hurt. want people to hurt.

“Those are the moments I’ll look back on and remember. Holding a patient’s hand for two hours while she passed. Or another patient on Father’s Day, crying with him and telling him it’s okay to go to heaven.

“Those are the moments I’m really upset and I’m mad and this doesn’t have to be happening right now.”

Casey can count the number of patients she’s cared for who survived since the start of the pandemic.

Right now, it’s two. DEALING WITH SKEPTICS

Like many others in the tower, Casey has had people fight the belief that COVID is real. She’s had patients lash out, perhaps in fear and denial, about the presence of the virus.

She’s been hit – both with words and fists – more than once by patients. But figurative blows come in her personal life, too, from friends and extended family who persist in the belief the that pandemic isn’t serious.

“This is me. This is my story,” she says. "You’ve known me since I was born. Why are you thinking I’m lying? That I’m part of the big health care conspiracy? They think it’s for-profit or whatever. I’m not a person to distrust in this situation. I’m from here. I want to protect the ones I grew up with. Just yesterday, a girl who was a two years younger than me died. She was 35.”

She shares about another patient who was 37 – her age – with two kids – like her. He died. And another who was 36.

“I was the one who handed him his phone and said, ‘You need to call your mom. We need to intubate now,” she recalls. “He was telling his people, ‘It’s fine, At last note, around 95 percent of patients hospitalized with COVID pneumonia at CoxHealth are unvaccinated.

LIFE AFTER NURSING SCHOOL

Casey was a relatively new nurse when she began caring for COVID patients at the start of the pandemic. Her new occupation brought a moment of joy for the single mom, who overcame difficult divorce with a light-like goal at the end of the tunnel: Becoming a nurse, just like her grandmother.

“I left with nothing. Absolutely nothing,” she says of starting over. “I had my clothing and books. Took the kids, started nursing school in 2016, and went to the hospital as a sitter just so I could get my foot in the door.”

She became a nursing assistant in Cox South’s Medical ICU to help her get through school. There she learned that critical care was where she wanted to be: Both for the necessary skills, and the chance to develop deep relationships with patients and their families.

Unfortunately, the latter has been more difficult than she ever imagined in nursing school. She had only been a nurse for a matter of months when the pandemic hit, bringing waves of devastation far worse that any typical critical care unit.

Twelve hours a day with layer upon layer of PPE. It's hard to hear and it's hard to feel through the layers of gloves. The masks are the worst as they leave deep indentations, irritation, and peeling. But Casey is grateful for the resources.

“I worked in the ICU, so I knew what I was setting myself up for. This isn’t that,” she says. “I’ve had people tell me, ‘Well, just quit if it’s too hard,’ or ‘You knew, you worked in an ICU. You knew it was going to be sad.’ This isn’t what we’re doing right now.”

She speaks of the point when they lost six patients in one day. “I came in that morning and we heard that there was a code on med-surg. That person died. We lost three more before I took my breakfast break.” GIVING COMFORT

When a patient will not survive, and is transitioned to comfort care, staff make every effort to coordinate details so loved ones may be present. There is a small room through a door to the tower where most go: A private space that is isolated from the hum and buzz and beeping machines, where patients and family members may be together.

“This is a new addition to really help the mental process for the family,” says Casey. “We coach them through getting dressed in PPE which is really overwhelming. They wait out here, we come in this door, we put them here, and then we withdraw care."

She and staff know it’s not ideal, but “in our disaster situation, this is the best we could come up with.”

She speaks of the trauma–for both families and personally–in which no one is to blame but a virus. And she shares one of her most traumatic moments, when a woman was on comfort care and was visited by several young children.

“We rolled her in, we withdrew care, and then it was me standing in the corner, watching the monitor so they don’t see, trying to keep it silent,” she says. “I’m just crying, crying, crying, and then she went, and then the daughters dropped the rails and they laid down with her.

“I hate it in here,” she says of the emotional distress found in the room’s walls.

THE TOLL

Some 18 months since the start of the pandemic, health care workers cope differently with how the time has affected them. Gatherings aren’t possible – in an effort to keep staff safe – for them to process together.

In addition to the untold tragedy and trauma, many have their own struggles away from work as well. Casey has her own, too. One of which was having COVID herself late last year. A friend came down with the virus, and shortly thereafter, she began experiencing symptoms.

For her, neurological effects of the virus became so severe that she had to step away from patient care for several weeks before being cleared to return to work. Even today, mild symptoms still persist.

“I got vaccinated as soon as it was available,” she says. But, before she was, she had questions.

“I was hesitant even. I had questions, and we were all nervous. And I said, ‘Well, I’ve already had COVID. Do I need this? We talked: Yeah, It’s evolving. Yeah, it’s not going to be the same strain and if I got sick again it could be a lot, lot worse.

“It’s very unknown. I don’t want to get COVID again.”

I've had people tell me, 'Well, just quit if it's too hard,' or 'You knew, you worked in an ICU. You knew it was going to be sad.' This isn't what we're doing right now. what we're doing right now.

A BETTER TOMORROW

On a recent evening, Casey leaves the hospital and walks out under the sun-setting sky to her vehicle in the parking garage.

Thankfully, it's one of the least traumatic days she’s experienced for COVID care. Perhaps it was fate. As she started her shift, Casey proclaimed that it was going to be a good day. The patient she was assigned was doing far better than most, allowing her to assist other staff members who needed extra hands.

Yet, while it was “good” in the minutiae of now, it’s also another day in a pandemic that has no end in sight. That doesn’t stop her or staff from hoping for a better tomorrow. And she rejoices in the number of people who have taken her experience to heart–which she regularly shares through social media–and decided to be vaccinated.

“As far as the whole picture, I feel proud. In the moment, now, I feel discouraged,” she says, but notes" I think I’ll feel pride again knowing that I’ve done everything I can.”

TOUR COX COLLEGE ONLINE

Interested in taking a tour of Cox College? You can go online to schedule a tour or take a virtual tour on our "Tour Our Campus Page." Scan in the QR code below to go to the webpage.

BEST NEWS EVER

Imagine getting that letter in the mail. The culmination of all your dreams coming true.

It can happen to you! Cox College has seven health care degree programs that will prepare you for the challenges of today and the needs of tomorrow. Scan the QR code to find out more.

RN-BSN Tuition Assistance Program Available

A fantastic opportunity has become available for RNs looking to earn their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. CoxHealth has launched an RN-BSN Tuition Assistance program that will pay up to $12,500 in tuition assistance for employed students who enroll in Cox College’s RN-BSN program.

This partnership is an obvious win for our students. They can receive significant financial assistance while advancing their careers, and it’s a win for CoxHealth as they look to grow and develop their nursing workforce. We’re thrilled to work with CoxHealth on this initiative!

If you’re interested in applying for the RN-BSN Tuition Assistance program, more information can be found here.

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Then and Now

Pictured is the construction of what was Burge School of Nursing in 1955 compared to Cox College today.

Vintage photo by the Springfield News-Leader.