2021 Nurses Section

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2021

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MAY 2021 

PAGE A2 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE

Leslie Fischbeck Page 9

Kathryn Lewis Page 21

Andrea Fisher Page 11

Jamie Paul Page 23

Katherine Frakes Page 13

Stevie Stanley Page 25

Ricky Gray Page 15

Cindy Wampler Page 27

MAY 2021

Railean King Page 19

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Jenny Bridgeman Page 7

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A3

Honorees

PAGE A4 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE 

MAY 2021

Nurses: The Heart of Health Care

N

ursing professionals have faced more challenges during the past 14 months than ever before due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, the Daily Journal partnered with Parkland Health Center, First State Community Bank and Mineral Area College to honor 10 nurses who have made a significant impact on

their patients.

We let our readers nominate nurses who have gone above and beyond to offer compassionate care. Our readers nominated 55 nurses and there were some incredible stories shared.

A panel of four judges selected nine nurses to feature within this section. The 10th nurse was selected by our readers.

Six of those nurses chosen work for BJC. “Nursing has been voted as the most trusted profession year after year,” Annette Schnabel, president of Parkland Health Center. “The nature of the intimate care, communication, and compassion nurses provide every day to every patient has earned them this recognition.

“We are so honored to recognize these six nurses along with all the nurses that have given their heart and soul during this pandemic, day in and day out.”

Nurses have faced the COVID pandemic with courage and compassion.

“The courage and resiliency displayed by nurses during this pandemic has truly been remarkable,” said Heather Taliaferro, VP Patient Care Services/Chief Nursing Officer at Parkland Health Center. “They have been courageous in the fact that they have placed their own fear of the

Annette Schabel (left) and Heather Taliafero (right)

unknown to assist those in need. They have advocated that the right care and treatment has occurred at the right time.”

Nurses were there for patients when family members, even husbands and wives, couldn’t be there.

“When family members were restricted from being with loved ones during their illness, (nurses) stepped up and provided comfort and support to those in need,” Taliaferro said. “While at times nurses felt helpless in the battle against COVID, they remained resilient and continued to assist in the fight.”

She said nurses have also learned to be innovative in their operations of their work.

“We have become accustomed to the challenges of increasing resources when supply was limited,” she said. “Nurses have remained committed to serve those in need no matter the circumstance.

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A5

Your Best MedicineSM Delivered Close to Home



MAY 2021

At Parkland Health Center, we offer the combination of medical expertise and compassionate care for you and your baby.

To schedule an appointment, call 573.347.7422 For more information, visit bjc.org/PHCbaby.

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MAY 2021 

PAGE A6 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A7

Jenny Bridgeman 2 0 2 1 N U R S E S : Heart of Health Care Honoree

J Alan Kopitsky

akopitsky@democratnewsonline.com

At A Glance: EMPLOYED AT:



Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital Madison Medical Center

MAY 2021

enny Bridgeman says being a successful nurse “is doing your job because you like taking care of your patients.”

It is something Bridgeman has been doing for 38 years.

Bridgeman says it also means living the mission of the hospital, “delivering excellent, personalized and compassionate care. Being part of a team that includes the patient and staff. That is a successful nurse.”

She graduated from Lancaster General Hospital School of Nursing with an Associate Degree in Nursing in 1983. She lives in St. Francois County and currently works full time at Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital and PRN (as needed) at Madison Medical Center.

“Her nickname, ‘Mama Jenny’ says it all,” Cyndi Fowler, director of Medical/ Surgical Unit at SGCMH said. “Jenny has been a nurse for a long time and brings her experience to the bedside, truly a ‘nurse’s nurse.’ Sometimes it seems she has truly seen it all.”

Bridgeman has worked in many different areas of nursing, although emergency care has always been her passion.

“I love ER,” she said. “My area of focus as a nurse is the Medical-Surgical Unit at the hospital and my primary goal is caring for the patient.

“Treating each patient with respect and dignity and, being an advocate is why I am a nurse. As a supervisor, I am responsible for overseeing all areas and each department is unique and special.

Therefore, every area offers a lifetime experience and I appreciate them all.”

Bridgeman is also recognized for her skill mentorship.

“She is always professional and approaches every situation with a calm demeanor and a ‘we got this’ attitude,” Fowler said. “Jenny never seems rattled

NURSING PROGRAM:

Lancaster General Hospital School of Nursing, Associate Degree Nursing (1983) Nurse Jenny Bridgeman says smiling and tone of voice are important parts of nursing.

AREA OF FOCUS:

Direct Patient Care (Medical-Surgical Unit) YEARS OF SERVICE:

38

in spite of the situation and she mentors other nurses with enthusiasm.

“She does not shy away from tough conversations but she tempers her remarks with humility and kindness.”

She was nominated by her daughter, Chelsey Bridgeman. Inspired by her mother, Chelsey has been an RN for six years.

“There have been so many times that she has been my mentor, offered reassurance, explanations and/or advice,” Chelsey said. “I can truly say that she is one of the most compassionate nurses in our area and her heart is always in the right place.”

Chelsey says her mother is known for her caring heart and contagious smile.

“If you asked her about her most memorable moments as a nurse, she would tell you it’s the hugs thanking her for taking care of them, better yet saving their life,” Chelsey said.

Bridgeman says she has had a lot of rewarding moments in nursing, including any time a patient expresses appreciation for the care they have received.

Treating each patient with respect and dignity and, being an advocate is why I am a nurse.”

“I have had people stop me in the store and say, ‘I remember you’ or a patient just gives you a hug. That is why I am a nurse,” Bridgeman said.

Bridgeman says smiling, tone of voice, and touching are important parts of nursing. She says touching a patient’s hand can ease their fears.

“Just smiling is important,” Bridgeman said. “People can see it even if you have on a mask. In addition, many people comment on it. It is just nice to see

you smiling; many times, it is their first impression. With COVID, the touching has been more challenging, but it is a very important part of compassionate care.”

Chelsey described a time Bridgeman was caring for a young boy who was terrified of getting sutures. His parent promised him Dairy Queen if he did well. The boy did great, and Bridgeman teased him that she wanted ice cream as well. The next day the boy delivered ice cream to her house. The parent got the address and made the gesture as a way of thanking the nurse for the boy’s positive ER experience.

“Although this might not be the most impressive story, it’s things like this that reinforced her love for helping others,” Chelsey said. “More importantly, it’s nurses like her that show our community what nursing should be about and how the smallest gestures can make the world of difference in someone’s eyes.”

“We are blessed to have Jenny at Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital both from a clinical and personal viewpoint,” Fowler said. “She brings so much to us in the way of her skills, values, compassion and personal touch. We consider her a ‘Top Nurse’ in every way.”

MAY 2021 

PAGE A8 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A9

Leslie Fischbeck 2 0 2 1 N U R S E S : Heart of Health Care Honoree

L

Nikki Overfelt-Chifalu

noverfelt@dailyjournalonline.com

At A Glance: EMPLOYED AT:



BJC Behavioral Health

MAY 2021

eslie Fischbeck, a nurse at BJC Behavioral Health, had no idea she was named after a TV nurse until she decided to go to nursing school.

Her mom named her after Leslie Ann on General Hospital but didn’t tell her until she had made her own decision.

“My mom just always said, ‘You’re going to go to college and you’re going to do something that you can be, in case you’re an independent single woman that you can provide for yourself,’” she said. “And then when I did pick nursing school, she’s like, ‘OK good, because I’m going to tell you about this.’

Fischbeck just felt like it was her passion and calling.

She started out as a candy striper at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center and her first job in high school was at Farmington Manor, where she helped with activities. It was then she realized she liked bringing joy to people by helping them.

“Nursing is a tough, emotional job. But it can also be so rewarding.”

Fischbeck has done a little bit of everything in her nursing career, but for the past 12 years, she has been with BJC Behavioral Health, connecting patients who are impacted by mental illness to the resources they need to live their healthiest life.

“We all go through dark times,” she said.

“So to be able to be just a small glimmer of light in somebody else’s dark time, to advocate for them, and help them turn the page towards better health, that’s why I love what I do.”

For example, one reason she was nominated was for connecting a family with the Walker Johns Childhood Cancer Foundation, who helped them get the pool they needed for water therapy.

“She deserves to be recognized for her

NURSING PROGRAM:

Lutheran Medical Center in St. Louis AREA OF FOCUS:

Home health and community health YEARS OF SERVICE:

27

Nursing is a tough, emotional job. But it can also be so rewarding.” service to others as she is always putting her heart into helping them navigate the health system in today’s world,” her nomination said. “So when we say Leslie truly does go above and beyond for them, she does. She is always ready to step up, when others are down, and try to build a support system around them in helping to connect them with other medical professionals and community resources.

She truly loves and cares for her clients, and also loves the community in which she lives.”

Fischbeck is active in the community, volunteering with COVID-19 injection clinics and helping to plan the Women’s Health Expo as board member for SEEDS of Wisdom.

“Community health is so important to me,” she said. “I’ve lived here most all of my life and I want to help bring the education and resources to my friends and neighbors.”

While the pandemic has been challenging for those in healthcare, Fischbeck has been thinking of others and how she can support and encourage them.

When they weren’t able to meet with people face-to-face, she was able to do her best to ease their worries over the phone.

“When you already have anxiety or depression, it just magnified it so much,” she added.

She also worked with students at Black

BJC Behavioral Health nurse Leslie Fischbeck connects patients who are impacted by mental illness to the resources they need to live their healthiest life.

Knight Stables to make quarantine goodie bags, which were filled with puzzles, snacks, magazines, books, prayer cards, and homemade cards. They dropped them off a long-term care facilities and porches of community members.

“When I would hear of some people who were really isolated and really were struggling with not really having any other family around, maybe living alone, then we would make up some quarantine goodie bags,” she explained. “Just to help some people through that.”

The person who nominated Fischbeck, once heard someone say, “I’ve never had anyone advocate for me like she did, and it restored my faith and hope in people and in healthcare again.”

We live here. We serve here.

Appreciate a Nurse Today, Send Flowers!

MAY 2021

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PAGE A10 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE

We are Serenity!

573.431.0162 • 800.876.0162 WWW.SERENITYHC.ORG

518 South 4th St. Ste. Genevieve, MO 63670 573-883-2109

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A11

Andrea Fisher 2 0 2 1 N U R S E S : Heart of Health Care Honoree

B Victoria Kemper

vkemper@democratnewsonline.com

At A Glance: EMPLOYED AT: BJC Medical Arts Clinic

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NURSING PROGRAM:

MAY 2021

JC Medical Arts Clinic Family Nurse Practitioner Andrea Fisher’s day to day is seeing patients in the clinic for chronic condition management, preventative care and same-day sick visits.

“My favorite part about being a nurse is having the opportunity to work with so many different people and impact their lives,” Fisher said. “After spending most of my nursing career in the ICU, I decided I wanted to be part of the preventative care model. I wanted to hold a position in the community where I could help residents become healthier.”

A nominator described Fisher as someone who loves her patients and rejoices with them when they make strides to live a better and healthier life.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the area, Fisher went above and beyond by putting her ICU hat back on and assisted in any way she could.

“The COVID-19 pandemic threw our community and healthcare system into unchartered waters,” Fisher said. “My clinic had slowed down due to restrictions of in-person visits so I volunteered to help down in the hospital.

“When I went down to the ICU and hospital, I worked with some of the most amazing nurses, hospitalists, and staff.

The team work they had, the positive words of encouragement to each other and the dedication of the team to be adaptable was more than what I expected and I was so thankful to be part of the team.”

Fisher said it was difficult.

She said when a patient came in with a cough, fever, or shortness of breath, they now needed to add COVID-19 as a possible diagnosis.

“I was worried about bringing it home to my family and friends,” Fisher said.

Maryville University, Masters of Nursing Practice, and Chamberlain University, Doctorate of Nursing Practice AREA OF FOCUS:

Critical Care and Family Practice YEARS OF SERVICE:

11

My favorite part about being a nurse is having the opportunity to work with so many different people and impact their lives.”

“What would happen if they became sick?

Would they recover? How do I keep my family safe? How do I keep my patients safe? How do I change my clothes before I get home? Were the kids exposed? Did they wash their hands before eating the chicken tenders? There were a thousand and two questions I had every second of every day and no answers.”

Fisher may not have had all the answers but she was working every day to be part of the solution.

“The ICU and hospital setting includes more acute problems with critical needs that require more intense monitoring,” Fisher said. “At first I was nervous to go back into the hospital settings, but I was so welcomed and everyone was very helpful in acclimating.”

Fisher said she has had several rewarding moments within her career, and working alongside the ICU nurses and staff at Parkland Health Center during the

Andrea Fisher, FNP, helps her patients with a smile at BJC Medical Arts Clinic.

COVID-19 pandemic is the most recent.

“Working with the patients and staff at bedside was an eye-opening experience for myself to see how COVID-19 was affecting our community,” Fisher said. “Having the opportunity to work alongside the nurses, caring for patients in the ICU, and working with the team of hospitalists gave me hope during what seemed to be an unrelenting surge of critically ill patients.”

Fisher admitted she did not always know she wanted to be a nurse but she did know she wanted to be in a profession where she could impact peoples’ lives.

“During high school, I had the opportunity to job shadow at Mineral Area Hospital, and I loved it,” Fisher said. “I knew I wanted to be active in health care from that day forward.”

The Heart of What We Do

MAY 2021

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PAGE A12 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE

OUR NURSES,

In celebration of National Nurses Week, we proudly recognize the hardworking nurses who help make our hospital, nursing home, home health & clinics, trusted providers of quality medical care and a great place to work.

Our nurses act as advocates, leaders, educators and caretakers through the late nights, the early mornings and every hour in between, making sure each patient receives the compassionate care and attention they’ve come to expect. Today, we warmly thank our respected nurses for all of their contributions toward making us a local leader that is committed to community & committed to care.

Thanks, Nurses.

We Appreciate All That You Do!

Fredericktown • 573-783-4111 www.madisonmedicalcenter.net

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A13

Katherine Frakes 2 0 2 1 N U R S E S : Heart of Health Care Honoree

N Pam Clifton

Contributing Writer

At A Glance: EMPLOYED AT:

BJC Parkland Health Center

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MAY 2021

urses are special people who have a strong desire to help, care for, and serve others. They are passionate and selfless and want the very best for their patients.

Katherine Frakes, of Farmington, is employed at BJC Parkland Health Center.

She has worked at the hospital for 14 years but has been in healthcare for 20 years.

She earned her master’s degree in nursing with a focus as clinical nurse leader from Webster University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes Jewish-College. In addition, she earned dual bachelor’s degrees in psychology and sociology from Central Methodist University.

While in college, she earned membership in the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

Frakes currently works as a registered nurse (RN) in the Intensive Care Unit.

Before and since the onset of receiving critical cases caused by COVID-19, she has worked extended hours and assisted exhausted colleagues.

“She always tries to go the extra mile to make her patients feel at ease and comfortable,” said the individual who nominated Frakes.

Although Frakes cannot share any details of her patients, the person who nominated her found out through a mutual acquaintance how moved and grateful a man was for Frakes’ condolence phone call after the loss of his mother.

“Her compassion and skills speak volumes for her commitment to the nursing profession,” the nominator wrote.

The person continued, “Katherine has devoted her adult life to the healthcare profession. Starting in high school, she took CNA classes so she could begin

NURSING PROGRAM:

Webster University, MSN and Goldfarb School of Nursing, Barnes Jewish College, BSN AREA OF FOCUS:

Critical care

Katherine Frakes, RN, has worked at BJC Parkland Health Center for 14 years and has been in healthcare for 20 years.

YEARS OF SERVICE:

20 years in healthcare working in the field while attending college. While working, she received her Med Tech certification.”

Her dedication continued as she took college classes while waiting to be accepted into nursing school.

“The same tenacity and determination are seen in her dedication to patients’ needs,” the nomination essay continued.

The nomination essay gave additional examples of Frakes’ commitment to her patients. While working in the geriatric unit at Parkland, she developed games and activities based on the holidays in each month for the patients to enjoy.

In the Med/Surg unit, she developed a policy and secured funding and donations for children’s games, puzzles and electronics to be checked out by patients.

In 2019, she designed a week of activities and a daily blog for nurses and staff to highlight the five steps of hand hygiene during Infection Control Week. During the worst of the COVID outbreak, she bought puzzles, playing cards and activity books for patients in ICU. “Katherine is always willing to put in extra effort and time to make Parkland the best hospital it can be,” said the nominator.

Helping critically ill patients improve and teaching them what to do at home to stay well is very important to me.”

As an RN, Frakes enjoys being a comfort to those in need even on their worst days.

“Helping critically ill patients improve and teaching them what to do at home to stay well is very important to me,”

she said.

Frakes enjoys seeing former patients thriving later in the community.

“We truly care about our patients and their families as they were our own,” she said. “We cheer with our patients with each accomplishment, and we cry with them.

Frakes said she and her colleagues also cry when they lose a patient, one of the most difficult aspects of the job.

“When they are under my care, I consider them my family, too,” she said.

When she’s not working at the hospital, Frakes can be found teaching classes to future nurses at Mineral Area College.

One of Frakes’ most memorable moments as a nurse was when she was at a shopping center and was stopped by a former patient who thanked her profusely.

She told Frakes how much the time she had taken to educate her and explain things to her had truly touched her and helped her to go forward.

“For her to remember me during one of the most difficult times in her life reaffirmed I am right where I am meant to be,” Frakes said. “Being a nurse is one of the most rewarding – and at times, hardest – careers.”

PAGE A14 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE 

MAY 2021

Happy Nurses’ Appreciation Week!

We want to sincerely thank our Cedarhurst nurses and ALL nurses for their continuous support, commitment and compassion.

You are true heroes!

Now hiring for all positions.

CedarhurstLiving.com/Careers

200 Maple Valley Drive • Farmington, MO 63640

(573) 309-0179 • CedarhurstFarmington.com

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A15

Ricky Gray 2 0 2 1 N U R S E S : Heart of Health Care Honoree

H Pam Clifton

Contributing Writer

At A Glance: EMPLOYED AT:

BJC Parkland Health Center NURSING PROGRAM:

Central Methodist University, BSN



MAY 2021

e’s one of the frontline workers who has battled the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s an Intensive Care Unit nurse who works diligently to keep patients alive. ICU nurses – or critical care nurses – are for patients who are experiencing serious, often life-threatening, health problems.

Often the medical issues of these patients are complicated, intense and sometimes demanding.

Similar to other healthcare professionals, ICU nurses must be critical thinkers and decision-makers and must constantly analyze their patients’ condition in order to provide the best treatment for them. They work well under pressure and as a team. They provide treatment to patients who need post-operative care, critical care and more. They communicate with families, monitor their patients and equipment used for their care, and so much more.

Although the life of an ICU nurse can be extremely challenging, it can also be thoroughly rewarding.

Ricky Gray, a resident of Bonne Terre, is an ICU nurse who has dedicated his life to helping others. He has been a registered nurse in the community for 20 years. Gray has been employed at Parkland Health Center for the last six years.

He began his career as an RN in 2001 and has worked at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center and St. Anthony’s Medical Center. In addition, he has worked in various positions as a nurse, from floor nurse to cardiac care to ICU, his current position.

In his nomination, it was stated that he has “the biggest heart, full of compassion for others and never stops caring for and about his patients even when his shift ends.”

The person continued, “Anyone who has had interactions with Ricky as a nurse have nothing but good things to say about his bedside manner, his personality or the care he takes with the family members of

AREA OF FOCUS:

Intensive Care Unit YEARS OF SERVICE:

20 years in healthcare

We do whatever it takes to care for the patients, family members and maintaining a safe environment, just to name a few.” his patients.”

He works the weekend night shift in the ICU. The person nominating Gray said, “He has been in the COVID trenches since day one and has worked so hard beside his teammates to give the best possible care to all that have passed through the ICU.”

“Ricky lives in the community that he serves and sees firsthand how COVID has changed the healthcare system and the general lives of those around him,” the nominator wrote about Gray. “His heart and unending desire to help others is beyond reproach.”

During his years of service as a nurse, he has worked with many people and helped many patients.

There are several things Gray thoroughly enjoys about being an RN. At the top of his list is seeing patients’ improvement during his shift. This is very important to him.

Second, Gray thoroughly enjoys caring and “just loving on people when they need it the most.”

He said, “When you think you are having a bad day, you don’t have to look

Ricky Gray has been an ICU nurse at Parkland Health Center for the past six years.

very far to count your blessings.”

Gray said there is a misconception regarding nurses.

“As nurses, we do so many more things than just patient care,” he said. “We do whatever it takes to care for the patients, family members and maintaining a safe environment, just to name a few.”

A difficult aspect of the job of a nurse is the mental, emotional and physical stress.

“I think all healthcare workers, no matter what department they are in or capacity they serve, are important and should be recognized and appreciated,” he said. “We are not separate, but are one body working together.”

PAGE A16 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE 

MAY 2021

I

Nikki Overfelt-Chifalu

noverfelt@dailyjournalonline.com

Mineral Area College nursing students have been able to help out with several COVID-19 vaccine clinics this year.

MAC nursing students persevere through pandemic changes in classroom and workforce

n the early stages of the pandemic, Mineral Area College Allied Health Director Angela Erickson received many phone calls from people wanting to become involved.

“It was so interesting because people would call me and say, ‘I need to be part of this. What do I need to do?’” she explained. “I bet I got a dozen calls from people that were ready to make a change in their career path because of what they were seeing nursing doing.”

Although hailed as heroes, the harsh realities of being a nurse were on full display in the pandemic.

“If they’re not running from it, and if they’re running to it, that says a lot about who they are,” Erickson said. “I felt that it was so interesting when people were calling me saying, ‘I want to be part of this,’ because it wasn’t always shown in the best light. You saw nurses crying and mask marks all over their face and exhaustion and all of that. That’s just the truth of it.”

Last year, MAC put 71 licensed nurses out into the community during the pandemic between its two programs.

But this is nothing new as the school has been pumping nurses into the Parkland community for years. The school’s 53rd class of nurses will graduate

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A17 

MAY 2021

this year.

MAC has a LPN and RN program.

The LPN program is one-year certificate program, which starts in August and ends in July. The RN program is a two-year associate’s degree.

“We take 37 in the associate degree freshman year and we take 33 in the PN program,” Erickson said. “But there’s 49 seats in the ADN sophomore year, which means that a lot of our PN students go right into sophomore year and complete their RN at the same time as the other students.”

The deadline for applying to the programs is Dec. 15. MAC requires placement scores and three pre-requisites, English composition, intro to chemistry, and quantitative reasoning.

Erickson said she was concerned applications would decrease this year, but they still had 130-140 applications, which is what they normally receive. Most applicants apply to both programs.

Last year, 47 of the 49 students graduated. This year, they are on track to graduate 48 of 49. One student had to withdraw for personal reasons.

“We’ve struggled with retention in the past,” Erickson said. “We had made some changes a few years ago, really focused on remediation.”

But the pandemic definitely changed things in the program.

As soon as administrators realized students would not be able to return to campus, they scrambled to buy a virtual simulation program for the nursing students. Instructors did classes through Zoom and assigned cases through the virtual program.

The students who graduated in May hadn’t been in a clinical setting since February.

“Our students finished out that year at home,” Erickson said. “We were real concerned because we were afraid pass rates would be affected. They actually went up.”

Their pass rate on the licensing exam went up 4% and exceeded the 84% national average.

“What I’ve heard from them is that that virtual simulation was so powerful for them,” she said. “We actually went ahead and incorporated it this year into the curriculum.

“A lot of the graduates said they need to be doing these virtual simulations from freshman year. So we started it.”

Erickson said she felt especially proud

Mineral Area College nursing students assess a simulated postpartum patient during a class.

CARES Act funding has allowed the school to purchase more simulated patients for training.

Angela Erikson

of those students for sticking it out even though they had to finish the program isolated at home.

“Then they entered the field in a time where they had to wear PPE for 12 to 13 hours non-stop,” she added. “I hear from them often, and they’re doing wonderful things.”

The LPN students were able to return

to and finish on campus in the summer.

“I went to administration and told them how important it was to get them back because they were struggling at home,” Erickson explained. “So we got them back. We socially distanced in Rice Lecture Hall.

This fall, both programs were able to return to the clinical setting of hospitals, although some partners decreased the number of students they allowed on the floor.

“CARES (Act) funds actually allowed us to purchase PPE for all of our students, so that the hospitals wouldn’t be burdened with that cost,” she said. “And that saved us.”

They were not able to return to longterm care facilities, which Erickson said they understood.

“So we just did whatever we could,” she added. “We used that virtual simulation.

We had a lot more in-person simulations here on campus. And then we just tried to make sure we rotated all of them through so they got the experience they needed.”

Funding from the CARES Act has also helped MAC to buy more beds and simulated patient manikins to allow for

more social distancing between students.

“CARES funds has been tremendously valuable to us,” Erickson said. “In keeping them as active as we can here on campus doing those skills, but also giving them the space to do it safely.”

When not able to get into the clinical settings, students have also had a chance to ride along with the Washington County Ambulance District, who the school partners with for its paramedic program.

Students have also gotten the opportunity to assist with several COVID-19 vaccine clinics.

Erickson said she’s been really impressed with the students in the clinics.

“People think, well, they’re just giving injections, but they’re also developing those interpersonal communication skills,” she explained. “That’s really important.

People aren’t just going in and getting a flu shot.

“For people going in to get this new vaccine quickly developed, there’s some hesitancy. So the students have to really develop that ability quickly to put their minds at ease (and) make sure they understand they’re doing the right thing for themselves and the community.”

MAY 2021 

PAGE A18 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A19

Railean King 2 0 2 1 N U R S E S : Heart of Health Care Honoree

F Mark Marberry

mmarberry@farmingtonpressonline.com

At A Glance: EMPLOYED AT:

Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center (SMMHC) NURSING PROGRAM:

Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College, RN, BSN



MAY 2021

armington native Railean King is a head nurse at (SMMHC).

King, 33, has worked for SMMHC her whole career, starting with working there as a psychiatric technician at the age of 19.

King’s supervisor Justin Cannell spoke about her work ethic and her value to SMHHC. “She’s one of our top nurses. One of the things about Railean that stands out, whenever we have new nurses or staff orienting, they want to be with her.

“She has an infectious personality.

People want to flock to be a part of her team. If she was to leave the ward she is on and go to another ward, she would have people following her. She’s an excellent leader and nurse.

“She has great clinical judgment and skill, she’s pretty much the total package.

She’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made as part of promoting somebody to a position, in her case, the head nurse.”

As head nurse of her unit, she has 19 patients to oversee treatment of.

“I guide their treatment, I have discussions with doctors and social workers and collaborate with a lot of different disciplines to try to come together to give the best treatment possible,” she said. “I work with a crew of five to seven psychiatric techs a day — they definitely run the show. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t survive it, they are definitely the backbone of that place. I guide them through their daily jobs and they assist me with my needs. They look to me for answers for everything and they get the job done very well. It’s a big family there. Everybody can almost read each other’s minds there.”

According to King, working with psychiatric patients at SMMHC is definitely different than a regular medical facility.

“The difference between the illnesses I come across ... they are dealing with a medical illness with a patient versus

AREA OF FOCUS:

Psychiatric Nursing YEARS OF SERVICE:

3

If those needs require me to be with them to help them through the situation, then I would be happy to get up extremely early and leave on a long trip.” my dealing with someone that’s in an emotional crises or illness and finding ways to help them cope with those situations so they can be good citizens and participate in society with a normal

balance in their lives.”

King is known to assist with some of the patients when they go to medical facilities for medical care.

“The population that we work with, you have some individuals that fear even leaving our facility,” she said. “It’s a part of being a part of their lives and the difference in their lives, making sure that their needs are met. If those needs require me to be with them to help them through the situation, then I would be happy to get up extremely early and leave on a long trip.”

She and her husband Justin live on a “mini farm” outside of Farmington with three kids, nine goats, a donkey, ducks and chickens.

To add to her busy life, King has just taken on a new dimension to her life by

Head Nurse Railean King makes a priority of balancing family and work life.

being a foster mother to a 12-week-old boy.

King credits her employer and coworkers with their assistance on taking on a foster child.

“I do work with some great leaders and teammates,” she said. “When we took this foster baby; that was definitely lifechanging for us. It requires a lot of work to do something like that.

“I needed some time off and they were very generous and helpful with me. I’m very proud to be a part of that team.

Everybody rallied together and made sure that I had everything that I needed for the little guy. They were a huge part in that.”

PAGE A20 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE MAY 2021



We’re there because peace of mind leads to

When a loved one is facing the final stages of life, it can be a difficult time—but you are not alone. At Heart & Soul Hospice, our devoted team is here to provide dependable and intimate care combined with compassion and understanding.

HeartAndSoulHospice.org

Kathryn Lewis has worked in many specialties over her 30-year career, including geriatrics, cardiac, diabetes education, nurse education and, currently, hospice.

2 0 2 1 N U R S E S : Heart of Health Care Honoree

bradford@dailyjournalonline.com

At A Glance: EMPLOYED AT:

BJC Home Care in Farmington



ne person nominating Nurse Kathryn Lewis for recognition cited her work ethic and compassion for those she cares for in her role.

“Kathryn is one of the most hardworking, dedicated, and kind nurses I know,” the nominator said. “Kathryn ‘grew-up’ in a nursing home; her parents owned an assisted living facility where she spent much of her time.

She continues that work today, working as an RN consultant and Level 1 Med Aide instructor at Ozark Manor, along with her hospice work. She has been a nurse for more than 30 years and has worked in a variety of roles.

Lewis said she has had quite a few memorable patients throughout her years working in different specialties, including geriatrics, cardiac, diabetes education, nurse education, and, currently, hospice.

“Some people you just sort of click with, and you just have an immediate connection to them,” she said. “You can empathize with them and their families, and you’re able to help them in ways that are generally something that everyone could do, being a nurse or not a nurse.

“But, of course, people look to nurses for that help,” she added. “Sometimes, it’s just providing basic human needs.”

Lewis began her career in Intensive Care & Dialysis at Parkland Health Center before moving on to Cardiac Rehab and then to the High-Risk Cardiology unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

She has served as a Certified Diabetes educator at Parkland Health Center, nursing instructor at Mineral Area College, RN consultant at St. Francois County Board for the Developmentally Disabled, and now as a hospice nurse with BJC Home Care.

Lewis described a typical workday

NURSING PROGRAM:

Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis, RN; and Central Methodist University, BSN AREA OF FOCUS:

Hospice/elderly and disabled patients YEARS OF SERVICE: 30

which begins with preparing for the day.

“In my hospice role, I will start out at home,” she explained. “We have a team huddle with our other team members.

Then, I visit patients all over the county.

“I typically work in St. Francois County and Madison County, going into the homes of patients, seeing them, seeing what needs they need met that day, and what we can do to make sure that they have everything there to support them through the dying process and provide them with comfort and any kind of needs that they need that way,” she said.

“Then, I also work for the St. Francois County Board for Developmentally Disabled,” Lewis said. “And so for those [patients], I would just be monitoring their medications, their treatments, things like that. Checking on on them and their wellbeing and seeing what kind of needs that they have.”

Lewis said she decided to enter the hospice field after caring for a close family member and experiencing the family caregiver role first-hand.

“She had ovarian cancer and was diagnosed for two years, and then she was actually only on hospice for about

That’s the great thing about nursing, is that if you don’t like what you’re doing, there’s something else you can change into.

I’ve done a lot of different things in nursing, and I’ve enjoyed all of them.”

three weeks,” Lewis recalled.

“Whenever we were in that process of going through hospice with her, I certainly learned a lot about the dying process. I learned it from the aspect of family caregivers, and after that, I knew that there were things that I could do to help people that were in that process that I understood and knew because I’ve been through that process myself.”

After 30 years in the nursing field, Lewis said she is still doing what she loves every day. She noted the versatility of being a nurse and the mobility that the career offers.

“That’s the great thing about nursing, is that if you don’t like what you’re doing, there’s something else you can change into,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of different things in nursing, and I’ve enjoyed all of them. But sometimes you just need a change, or you need to mix up, and so you can always go to a different area of nursing.”

As for now, Lewis said her current role is the best fit for her as a nurse.

“I feel right now my place is here,” said Lewis. “Of course, as your life changes, sometimes that changes where you should be.

“I don’t think hospice is the best choice for a young new nurse,” she added. “I think it’s better for someone who has seen the circle of life and has seen all aspects of living, beginning to the end, and can find the joy and beauty in all of it.”

MAY 2021

O BOBBY RADFORD

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A21

Kathryn Lewis

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Nurses Week MAY 6TH – 12TH

Honoring all of the nurses in the Parkland who have worked tirelessly

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S

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O U R

2 0 2 1

H O N O R E E S

Jenny Bridgeman

on the front lines during COVID-19.

We are inspired by your dedication.

Railean King

Leslie Fischbeck

Andrea Fisher

Katherine Frakes

Ricky Gray

Kathryn Lewis

Jamie Paul

Stevie Stanley

Cindy Wampler

dailyjournalonline.com

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A23

Jamie Paul 2 0 2 1 N U R S E S : Heart of Health Care Honoree

J

Kevin R. Jenkins

kjenkins@farmingtonpressonline.com

At A Glance: EMPLOYED AT

Southeast Missouri Mental Health/Corrections Treatment Center NURSING PROGRAM



1998 - Bachelor of Science in Psychology 1998 from the College of the Ozarks; Mineral Area College 2004 LPN and 2005 RN

MAY 2021

amie Paul, RN, has been a nurse at Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center for 24 years and she is quick to mention that she loves her job, coworkers and supervisor, Nancy Crawford, MSW/LCSW. “My fellow nurses do a wonderful job and Nancy is the best boss I’ve ever had,” she said. “I really love working at Southeast Missouri Mental Health.”

Crawford, one of the people who nominated Paul for recognition, returned the compliment.

“Jamie is the best nurse I’ve ever worked with,” she said. “Her commitment to kind, compassionate patient care was unwavering during the COVID pandemic.

“She not only met the needs of her patient population — the severe, chronic mentally ill — but she also provided support to her peers that worked tirelessly through staff shortages, illnesses and the evolving guidelines. She did so with poise and confidence while ensuring respect and courtesy was shown to all.

“Jamie’s commitment to patient recovery and her commitment to excellence in her job performance is extraordinary. Jamie is an amazing woman who advocates for her patients, coworkers and employees. She has a family that depends on her and she takes care of all of us!”

Paul began her career in 1997 as a client attendant trainee with the “State Hospital,” now known as Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center (SMMHC).

She attended College of the Ozarks and earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 1998. Paul married, began her family and entered the LPN program at Mineral Area College in 2004, bridging over to the RN program which she completed in 2005.

Paul has worked with various populations and programs during her career. These have included the intellectually impaired, acute, severe and chronic mentally ill. In addition, she worked part time for six-and-a-half years at St. John’s Mercy in St. Louis while

AREA OF FOCUS

Psychiatric Nursing with Certification in Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, emphasis on Mindfulness; Qualified Mental Health Professional YEARS OF SERVICE

7

“My fellow nurses do a wonderful job and Nancy is the best boss I’ve ever had. I really love working at Southeast Missouri Mental Health.”

working full time at SMMHC. Her expertise in mental health was valued by St. John’s and she was often assigned to assist with patients in the emergency department that were having mental health crises. Most recently, she has worked as a nursing supervisor with the mentally ill offenders incarcerated at the Farmington Correctional Center’s Corrections Treatment Center.

The program is a cooperative agreement between the state’s departments of Mental Health and Corrections.

“It is a very specialized unit that treat the most severe, chronic and acute offenders in the state of Missouri,” Crawford said. “Jamie does not do the job for the glory, as most nurses choose not to work in the mental health field and most certainly not in the correction’s setting.

She says she treats her patients with care, kindness and compassion — including the offender population, because the offenders are someone’s brother, father or son. She asks herself, ‘How would you want your loved one to be treated?’”

Paul told the story of a patient who suffered from acute mental illness and

Jamie Paul, RN, is pictured standing in front of a photo of the original Missouri State Mental Hospital in Farmington.

struggled a long time to be stabilized.

After several years and therapeutic interventions, the patient was released into the community and today has a family and job, and is successful. As she told the story, tears welled up in her eyes, saying she knew that she and her team had made a difference in someone’s life.

“During the pandemic, Jamie has assisted with the COVID vaccination clinic to ensure both departments of Mental Health and Corrections employees received their vaccination,” Crawford said.

Several of her patients tested positive for COVID in October. She ensured that their mental health needs, as well as their medical needs, were met while dealing with staffing shortages as many of the staff tested positive at the same time.

“Jamie is the whole package. She often refers to herself as a ‘neck up’ nurse but she is an excellent caregiver, both psychiatrically and medically. We appreciate her so much and she is so deserving of this recognition and more.”

CAITLIN HEANEY WEST THE TIMES-TRIBUNE (SCRANTON, PA.)

Madison Jarocha knows her life would look much different if illness had not touched her.

From an autoimmune disease that shook up her world as a teenager to broken bones to a cancer diagnosis in her final year of college, the 21-year-old has faced — and survived — more than some people do in a lifetime.

Madison, of South Abington Twp., Pennsylvania, is studying for a nursing degree from University of Central Florida.

As a student in Abington Heights School District, however, Madison thought she’d one day study mathematics. That, along with much more of her life, changed when she was 16.

A basketball and field hockey player, Madison initially thought she was having issues with asthma when she started getting out of breath and passing out at practice.

When her mother, Nicole Jarocha, saw Madison for the first time in a few weeks, her intuition kicked in.

“She walked into the house, (and) I turned to my sister and said, ‘There’s something wrong with her,’” Nicole Jarocha recalled.

Madison, who lost about 20 pounds over two months and felt seriously fatigued, had seen doctors for a few months, but nothing came of the appointments. Her mother pushed for bloodwork and other tests, and Madison ended up getting admitted to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania.

“I had to stop everything,” Madison recalled. “I can’t walk up a flight of stairs without getting out of breath.”

Madison learned she has acute systemic scleroderma. The more common variety

causes the skin to produce too much collagen, but in Madison’s case, her body produces too much collagen internally, which the body thinks of as foreign and then starts attacking her muscles, tissues and organs.

Overall, the disease led to at least 10 hospitalizations, several surgeries and procedures, numerous trips to Baltimore and the possibility of needing a double lung transplant one day.

“The nurses that I had, I feel like I definitely would not be where I was without them,” Madison said. “I kind of want to do for other people what they did with me.”

Switching paths Madison realized going into her senior year at Abington Heights that nursing was the career for her. Ready for a fresh start, she headed to Florida and plans to graduate this May with a nursing degree. She’s had research published, made dean’s list each semester and was picked to participate in a research study.

Madison expects to stay in Florida for another year after college before hitting the road to work as a travel nurse. She’s considering a career in bone-marrow transplants or oncology, having done clinical work in an adult oncology clinic last year that showed her how much she enjoys caring for patients in a critical setting. Eventually, she’d like to move into nurse education.

“There’s a lot you can do with nursing after school and everything,” Madison said.

Early in college, while raising money for the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children through the Knight-Thon, she collapsed and was taken to that very hospital for treatment. She went blind for more than a month, her mother said, as doctors suggested that flareups from Madison’s

disorder could have affected the connective tissues in the eyes. While Madison regained her eyesight, she is legally blind without her glasses.

Then last year, Madison was riding on the back of a moped with a friend when the vehicle crashed into a pole at 55 mph.

Thrown more than 20 feet but miraculously alive, Madison had a concussion and broke several bones in her foot.

Still, she pushed forward through her recovery, and then another setback came: cancer.

In June, she noticed a lump on top of her rib cage but thought it was just a cyst, which she gets often. By October, however, she realized it had almost doubled or tripled in size. Doctors diagnosed her with leiomyosarcoma, a cancer of the connective tissues and muscles.

Madison underwent surgery on Nov. 30, during which doctors removed the affected area and tissue surrounding it. Subsequent testing showed she was clear of cancer and did not need chemotherapy. She said she feels a lot better with the cancer behind her.

“I got really lucky,” Madison said.

taken away from these experiences, especially when it comes to nursing.

“I know what it’s like to be a patient in the hospital,” Madison said. “I’ve had some good nurses and bad nurses. And I kind of know how I want to be treated in a hospital. ... I’ll be able to sympathize and also empathize with my patients and know what situation they’re in.”

“She’s going to be the nurse that everyone wants,” Nicole Jarocha said. “I think first and foremost, as a nurse, the empathy and compassion is like 90% of the medicine. I just don’t think empathy can be taught or compassion can be taught; you either have it or you don’t. ... I just think that her empathy and compassion is going to have a lot to do with the helping of her patients.”

Madison just tried to focus on getting through whatever she faced at that moment, knowing it would soon pass. And believes everything happens for a reason. Trials can make her a stronger person or give her more insight into her career.

“I just realized how resilient I was,” Madison said. “I have a really good perspective on life. No matter what happens, I just try to keep a positive attitude. “

Showing strength Both Madison and her mother see how much she has

PHOTO BY KAROLINA GRABOWSKA FROM PEXELS

PAGE A24 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE n

MAY 2021

Medical setbacks fuel passion for nursing career

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A25

Stevie Stanley 2 0 2 1 N U R S E S : Heart of Health Care Honoree

S Sarah Haas

shaas@dailyjournalonline.com

At A Glance: EMPLOYED AT:

Assistant Director of Nursing at Southbrook at time of nomination, now with A1 Home Care



MAY 2021

tevie Stanley lets her patients know they are not alone.

Stanley of Bonne Terre, was the assistant director of nursing for Southbrook Skilled Nursing when nominated, but has since begun working at A1 Home Care in Bonne Terre.

“To say working with the elderly is a passion for her is an understatement.

Stevie is the very definition and more of a nurse,” read her nomination. “She puts others needs before her own and is not happy until those around her are taken care of. Covid has been hard on everyone especially her residents in the nursing home. I have no doubt that hers were the most well taken care of and happiest residents of them all.”

Additionally, the nomination points to the challenges of balancing her family with nursing school, her drive to continue her education and help others, and her dedication to going the extra mile for patients and residents.

“From dressing up as Santa to just a simple smile to let them know they are not alone. Anyone who is or has family under Stevie’s care, should feel at ease and confident knowing that their family will feel treated as her own,” the nomination read. “She is the one I call for any trusted advice when it comes to anything. She will always be number one in my book!”

Stanley said she was touched by the recognition. She was interviewed right before she left Southbrook for A1 Homecare.

“I have very supportive coworkers and we helped each other through that time,” she said. “We got through COVID through lots of praying, positive reinforcement, helping each other out. It’s so important to work in a positive, supportive environment. I’ve been very lucky to have coworkers I’m close with and I’ll miss very

NURSING PROGRAM:

Mineral Area College, ADN 2014 AREA OF FOCUS:

Long-term care YEARS OF SERVICE:

7

We got through COVID through lots of praying, positive reinforcement, helping each other out.” much when I do leave.”

Southbrook was her first employer out of MAC’s nursing school. One of the things she likes to do is help residents transition from “their home” life, to their new “home” life. She said she wants to

also help them navigate the challenges of their senior years as gracefully and easily as possible.

“We have certain residents who were used to a certain way of life, or maybe they loved going to McDonald’s every Friday,” she said. “He’s passed away now, but one of our residents had said he loved McDonald’s. Frequently, he would refuse to cooperate, so I’d offer to get him a milkshake if he got up and did therapy.

It would make his day. Just little things like that.”

Stanley said she also doesn’t think people realize how difficult long-term care work is, or skilled nursing facilities can operate on an acute level.

“We can start IVs, we do peritoneal dialysis here, we do a wide array of different things people don’t normally associate with long-term care,” she said.

Assistant Director of Nursing Stevie Stanley was nominated by co-workers at Southbrook Skilled Nursing shortly before she moved to another job in the field.

“We have labs that come in, X-rays, ultrasounds, we have Dopplers that we can do here — work that’s associated with an acute setting, but we’re keeping a home-like setting, as well. They think it’s just a nursing home where people come to die, and that’s not necessarily true, we also offer rehab services to get people back home.”

Stanley said she hopes more people join the nursing profession, given that COVID-19 was particularly hard on the industry, and saw a lot of quitting and retirement among seasoned nurses.

PAGE A26 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE 

MAY 2021

YOUNGRAE KIM PHOTOS, CHICAGO TRIBUNE‌

Registered nurse Lizzy Murphy, left, asks questions as she checks in her mother, fellow nurse Lynn Griesmaier, before giving her the second dose of COVID-19 vaccination at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago on Jan. 8.

Oncology nurse receives COVID-19 vaccine from her nurse daughter

‌A

HEIDI STEVENS | Chicago Tribune‌

s soon as the COVID-19 vaccine became available to her department, Lynn Griesmaier, nurse coordinator for breast medical oncology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, jumped at the opportunity.

“I took the first available spot,” Griesmaier said. “I said, ‘I’ll go anywhere, at any time.’”

As soon as administering the COVID-19 vaccine became an option, nurse Lizzy Murphy, education coordinator at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, jumped at the opportunity.

“We’re just so excited to have a vaccine,” Murphy said.

“I was like, ‘As many hands as they need. Let’s get this in people’s arms.’”

Griesmaier signed up to receive her first dose of the vaccine at 9 a.m. on Dec. 18. Murphy signed up to work one of Northwestern’s vaccine tables all day on Dec. 18.

Griesmaier is Murphy’s mom. The two have leaned on each other and drawn strength from each other and shared tears and the occasional lunch (when there’s time) and rides to work (masked, with the car windows down) as the novel coronavirus crashed through our lives, infecting more than 1 million Illinoisans.

“At the beginning I was keeping a log, ‘How many patient exposures do you think you had today?’”

Griesmaier said. “And then I was checking it against the statistics on TV. I mean, it was nuts. I was really so worried about how things were going for her.”

Griesmaier was in awe, she said, of her daughter’s calm, and her lightning-fast mastery of COVID-19 protocols and personal protective equipment needs and

severe respiratory illnesses.

“I’ve been a nurse for a very long time,” Griesmaier said. (Forty years, to be exact.) “I just kept thinking, ‘How does she know all of this? How is she doing all of this?’”

Working at the same hospital was a tremendous relief, Griesmaier said.

“Not only because I had such confidence in her,” she said. “But because I still felt like I could make sure she’s OK.” Murphy was supposed to get married on May 30. She and her mom had been planning the big wedding for more than a year.

“At the beginning it was like, ‘It’s going to be fine by May,’” Murphy said. “And then the realization of it all finally hit us. So that emotional side of canceling your wedding, my mom was there for all of it.”

And then, as the year like no other drew to a close, a vaccine arrived.

And Griesmaier was scheduled to receive it on the day her daughter was scheduled to administer it.

“I knew my mom was coming that day, but there were 18 stations,” Murphy said. “The chances of all of it happening just right ...”

Murphy had received her first dose Dec. 17, the day before her mom was scheduled to receive hers. Murphy knew the drill, and she also knew the emotions.

Griesmaier felt them all, the moment she walked into the hospital to receive her shot.

“It felt so reverent,” Griesmaier said. “I’m just so grateful we’re getting to do this. I was in awe of the moment.”

Then Murphy’s table had an opening. And it was Griesmaier’s turn.

“I thought, ‘I gave birth to her. And she’s going to keep me alive,’” Griesmaier said.

Murphy administered the shot, which Griesmaier says she barely felt. On Friday, three weeks after that first shot, Murphy administered her mom’s second dose.

“It feels sort of full circle,” Murphy said. “I wouldn’t be a nurse without my mom. I owe my work ethic and everything and the opportunity to go to nursing school and have a great education to my parents.

“I always feel like I can never repay her for everything she’s done for me,” Murphy continued. “This I feel like is the greatest gift I could give her.”

“I’m just so proud of her,” Griesmaier said. “She’s done such beautiful work. Her heart is just — she’s a nurse, true and true. And it’s just amazing. Here’s your child. Here’s your daughter. How this all came together, it’s just amazing.”

Griesmaier helps patients who’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer. She sees fear and hope every workday, pre- and midpandemic.

“I’m just amazed at the resilience,” she said. “The strength and courage that my patients have and their families have, I’m always just amazed.”

The arrival of this vaccine, she said, gives her hope for their futures, for their ability to ward off a dangerous virus while their immune systems are already severely taxed.

“It’s a good powerful moment between us,” Murphy said. “And it’s also a sense of hope that we’re all moving in the right direction.”

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A27

Cindy Wampler 2 0 2 1 N U R S E S : Heart of Health Care Honoree

Contributing Writer

At A Glance: EMPLOYED AT:

BJC Parkland Health Center



urses are the backbone of healthcare.

Nurses devote much of their time, energy and compassion to their patients.

“Nursing is not glamourous, but if it is your God-given calling,” said Cindy Wampler. “You will know because you cannot not do it.”

Wampler, RN, BSN, MHA, works at BJC Parkland Health Center in the Intensive Care Unit. She’s worked for Parkland for 12 years.

The person who nominated her for this honor said, “Cindy has gone above and beyond for our son during his cancer journey. She loves him and cares for him.”

Their son calls Wampler “Aunt Cindy,” and she “spoils him rotten and personally buys him a toy truck for every port draw she has to do [during treatment].”

The nominator said they are lucky to have Wampler in their lives during this challenge in their lives and added how she always checks on their son and his progress.

“She is an amazing nurse and person,” they said. “She has become a part of this family.”

Wampler, a graduate of Potosi High School, lives in Farmington.

She previously worked at Farmington Correctional Center as a nurse. She is on the board at Faith Cowboy Church.

Wampler was recognized as Leader of the Year in 2018. She was in management for seven years and enjoyed helping her team and supporting them in every way possible.

“But my love is bedside nursing,” she said.

Wampler focuses on the “big picture.”

“I love the patients and their families and getting to know them not only as my patients but some I am friends with even after,” she said.

NURSING PROGRAM:

Associate’s degree in nursing at MAC, bachelor’s degree in nursing, master’s degree in health care management at Central Methodist University

Cindy Wampler works at BJC Parkland Health Center in the Intensive Care Unit. She’s worked for Parkland for 12 years.

AREA OF FOCUS:

Intensive Care/Critical Care Nursing YEARS OF SERVICE:

16 years in healthcare

I love holding their hands and giving them a hug even in this crazy time we are in because physical touch is so healing.”

She said, “I love holding their hands and giving them a hug even in this crazy time we are in because physical touch is so healing.”

Sometimes Wampler even sings to a patient on a ventilator. She talks to patients who may be a bit confused but remember their past and wants to share their stories with her while she holds their hand.

“That is why I went into nursing,” she said, “and I want to help people that I may see in our community in a month.”

Wampler said being a nurse is a difficult career in numerous ways.

“It’s hard to leave your work family at the end of the day and not wonder about how they are,” she said. “That goes for your peers or for the patients and their families, or managers, CNO, CEO, housekeepers, maintenance men, and the kitchen workers.”

Wampler said the Parkland staff are family. “We are a close family and spend a large part of our days together, most of the time more time with them than our home families.”

She said this past year has been one of the most difficult of her career and one

she has never before seen.

“But it has also been amazing,” she said. “I have seen death and near death, nurses who come out of the room and take off their protective equipment and have to take a minute and just let it out to cry, sob or be angry for a minute, and then get back up and go again.”

She said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICU was “full of patients on ventilators, more at a time than we have ever had in my almost 12 years here.”

But Wampler said it was also a beautiful time because she watched as “every person jumps in when they needed to.”

“I watched people step out of the roles that they are assigned every day and out of their comfort zone and do what was best for our community and our peers or work family,” she said. “I love this place, this job, and these people.”

Wampler said she also loves the career she chose. The most rewarding moment to date was when she helped care for her uncle when he was ill. She was able to give back to her family for all the time they have given to support her.

“I love being a nurse,” she said. “Not every day is wonderful, but I am grateful for every day.”

MAY 2021

N Pam Clifton

PAGE A28 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE n

MAY 2021

Georgia WWII veteran,

100

NURSE TURNS

I

SHANNON BALLEW | MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL, GA.

nez Long of Marietta, Georgia, one of Cobb County’s few surviving World War II veterans, celebrated her 100th birthday in January.

“It’s good to be alive,” Long said before the approaching milestone.

Born Minnie Inez Scurry on Jan. 30, 1921, in the south Georgia town of McRae, Long said her older sister became a nurse despite their father’s insistence that she be a teacher. She followed in her sister’s footsteps, and graduated as a registered nurse from Emory’s Crawford W. Long Hospital School of Nursing, according to family records.

That hospital is now Emory University Hospital Midtown.

She worked a little over a year as an industrial nurse in a Savannah shipyard, enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1943 during the Second World War. “The war was on, and that was it,” she said of her decision to use her skills in supporting the war effort.

Inez went through basic training in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Santa Ana, California, and spent the rest of her time stationed at the hospital at Numa Army Air Field in Arizona. There, she tended to patients, administered medicines and shots, and worked on the floor, doing whatever the doctors needed her to do. She especially loved helping with surgeries, she said.

It was at the Numa base hospital that she met her husband, Ed “Bud” Long, who served as a B-17 bomber pilot. As the family story goes, the two lieutenants first met when Ed Long was waking up from a tonsillectomy. He was just as struck by Inez’s beauty as he was by the punches she was landing on him, forcing him to breathe.

Edward Long, who died in 2016, would later tell people that he chased the young Inez all over the hospital for the rest of his stay there, according to an article from their church, Maple Avenue United Methodist

Church in Marietta.

The couple married in Yuma in 1944 and would be together for 72 years.

Inez Long was discharged when she was pregnant with their first child and moved back to McRae. She waited there for about a year, and when the war was over the Longs and their daughter, Georgia, moved to Marietta.

In Marietta, they had a son, Ed Long, Jr., and Inez continued her nursing career at a local doctor’s office and later became an assistant at a dentist office, while her husband worked at Delta and Lockheed Martin.

Long Jr. remembers his parents being the hosts to many parties on their front porch and in their backyard, always loving to have company. His mother was always active in their church, selling baked goods for church fundraisers at the old fairgrounds. One favorite was pecan tarts.

“I told her when she was selling them at the bazaar at church, she was selling them too cheap. They were always gone,” he said.

Inez Long could also often be found tending her garden, and she loved to can the vegetables she grew, especially mustard pickles. Her son said she also loved pranking her children, and would often spray water at him or play other jokes.

“They were just good parents. We didn’t have much when we were coming up, but they always seemed to provide,” Ed Long Jr. said.

Life has been quieter in recent years for Inez Long. She doesn’t remember as well since a stroke a few years ago, and she is hard of hearing. But she still enjoys walks and having company, though the pandemic has curtailed visits by family and friends. The one place she and her son go out together is the occasional trip to the beauty parlor for a haircut.

“One of the doctors said she was a tough old bird, and she is,” her son said.

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PAGE A30 NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE 

MAY 2021

USING ART

TO COPE Facing helplessness and fatigue, some health care workers seek out creative outlets

MAKEDA EASTER LOS ANGELES TIMES‌

‌LOS ANGELES – “COVID Fatigue” is how surgeon Dr. Frank Candela titled his painting — a weary blue face enveloped in a cloud of black. During the winter COVID19 surge in L.A., Candela sent the painting to Times health reporter Soumya Karlamangla, who tweeted: “When I asked him what inspired the image, he said, ‘my colleagues faces.’”

As the pandemic stretched toward the one-year mark, with about half a million deaths in the U.S. alone, health care workers were increasingly burned out and traumatized.

For some, staying creative is a form of escape, a way to cope with stress or a strategy for sharing a message of hope with their community. The Times spoke to five health care workers — who are also a painter, a choreographer, a photographer or an illustrator — to learn more about how the pandemic has affected their artistry.

C. Michael Gibson: interventional cardiologist, researcher, educator, painter In Dr. C. Michael Gibson’s oil painting “The Last Shift,” a line of dark, floating silhouettes drifts off into a hazy light. Gibson shared the painting, which was auctioned for $25,000 to support health care workers, on Twitter last March, adding: “Welcome home to all of our courageous #CoronaHeroes who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

The isolation of the pandemic has meant more time to look inward. For Gibson, “The Last Shift” is a meditation on spirituality and vulnerability, “not afraid to talk about it, knowing that so many other people were probably facing the same concerns about where’s everyone going after this. Are they going to be OK? All those issues we all struggle with.”

As a practicing physician, Gibson spends one day each week doing procedures, opening up people’s arteries. It’s a visual job, he said. “You’re looking at a screen and finding these blockages and making them better, so we’re kind of visual athletes. And being a painter has always made me a better visual athlete.”

In addition to his work as a cardiologist, researcher and educator, he paints most nights and weekends at his studio in Natick, Massachusetts. Art is his way to communicate nonverbally and “allow a lot of all those feelings, emotions and right sided things that are all pent up in there to come out.”

During the pandemic, Gibson has created about 10 paintings. About half are directly related to the pandemic. He was particularly inspired by a nurse in a Dove commercial, struck by her exhaustion and the marks the mask left on her face. He said it captured “not just the outward appearance but the inward appearance of so many health care workers who’ve been traumatized by the violence.”

Other paintings have been more abstract, but still the pandemic showed up in subtle ways — like the increased use of grays, red

and blues. “They’re not very happy paintings,” he said.

A recent ray of light: He helped to administer vaccines one weekend in Central Falls, Rhode Island. “It reminded me why I was a doctor. It was a really good experience.”

G. Sofia Nelson: pulmonologist and choreographer As a physician who specializes in the respiratory system, Dr. G. Sofia Nelson splits her time between clinic and hospital settings in Oxnard and Camarillo, California. When making hospital rounds before the pandemic, Nelson typically saw about 15 patients each day. But during the recent COVID-19 surge in Southern California, Nelson saw between 50 and 60 patients every day.

Nelson, 33, would often return home from work, not because she had treated every patient, but because she was exhausted.

There was also triaging, she said, deciding which patients could benefit from continued treatment.

Flow arts, a form of dance that involves prop manipulation, such as hoops, or juggling, was one way Nelson coped with the stress.

“It’s been long days, but it’s very powerful having something to come home to, for which I can pretty much shut off my brain.

I can just really focus on my body,” Nelson said. “The more I’m working my mind and the more I’m thinking, the harder my job becomes, the more I actually have to dance to maintain that balance.”

She’s also the director of Lumia Dance Company, which she launched in 2019 as a way to give back to the arts community. In December the company premiered its debut show virtually, “Light Through Darkness,” featuring dance, aerial arts and fire spinning — all filmed in an empty North Hollywood theater.

Nelson choreographed three dances in the show over several months, typically rehearsing on Zoom during evenings and weekends. One dance was a post-apocalyptic hoop piece about the pandemic experience, another was inspired by what she described as the government’s increased militarization and fascism, and a duet explored the pitfalls of social media.

Now that the show is over, Nelson mainly dances at home as a form of movement meditation, reaching the same type of head space many surgeons use in their practice, she said. “It’s really important that we create

a culture where physicians are encouraged to have creative outlets like this. We create a society in which not just physicians, but anybody, really has that kind of opportunity.”

Chip Thomas: family physician and photographer For the last 33 years, Dr. Chip Thomas has worked on the Navajo Nation, the largest reservation in the U.S., spanning parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, and also among the hardest hit by COVID-19. As a family practice physician, Thomas, 63, has treated generations of families in the area.

Also a street photographer who goes by “jetsonorama,” Thomas says art and medicine go hand in hand.

“When I see people in the clinic, I’m attempting to create an environment of wellness within the individual. And when I am putting art up in the community, (I’m) reflecting the beauty of the community back to people.”

In 2009, Thomas began creating public installations of his photography, using spaces throughout the Navajo Nation as a way to share messages. Some of Thomas’ prior work focused on public health awareness, including commentary on people’s food choices.

During the pandemic, he created largescale public service announcements posted on abandoned buildings and billboards encouraging residents to wear a mask and stay positive despite the tough times.

Last November, Thomas published a 115-page multimedia zine called “Pandemic Chronicles, Volume 1,” inviting visual artists and poets to respond to how the pandemic disproportionately affected their communities. Thomas shot much of the photography in the zine during weekends and his time off work.

One image, of an older woman and child in a masked embrace, is a family Thomas has worked with since 1987.

The young girl in the photo is about 9. “I started photographing her when she was 6 months old,” Thomas said. “One of the things I love about that image, other than the fact that they’re both wearing masks, is they’re touching. ... With social distancing and the emphasis on mitigation measures, a lot of people don’t have an opportunity to touch and embrace like that.”

Thomas was recently invited to create a project funded by the United Nations, working with activists to create an art-based

JAY L. CLENDENIN, LOS ANGELES TIMES VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

NURSES, THE HEART OF HEALTH CARE PAGE A31

Dr. G. Sofia Nelson, a pulmonologist who sees dance as a way to keep balance in her life, uses dance hoops in her Newbury Park, California, backyard.

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MAY 2021

response on the Navajo Nation to the mental health challenges caused by the pandemic.

The project’s title, “Pandemic as Portal,” is based on an essay of the same name by Indian author Arundhati Roy.

Tessa Moeller: nurse and painter Working as a nurse in a Miami trauma burn unit during the early days of the pandemic, when personal protective equipment ran low and there were many unknowns about COVID-19, was terrifying for Tessa Moeller.

Painting was an outlet to handle the high stress of the hospital, where she typically worked three days a week. “Sometimes I would come home, especially after a particularly scary day, and I would shower (and) go right to painting.”

When Moeller, 29, wasn’t working in the hospital, she juggled commissions and created art to express how she felt in the moment.

Last March, she began a COVID-19 series of paintings of nurses she knew, including one of a colleague who works in ICUs inserting catheters and another who became infected with COVID-19 while studying to become a nurse anesthesiologist.

Last May, Moeller moved to Portland, Oregon, and began working in an oncology unit.

In the early days of the pandemic, the fear and confusion of last spring emerged through her use of bright reds and expressive brushstrokes. After moving, Moeller’s paintings became more detailed and controlled with “a lot of neurotic brushstrokes,” she said.

“That really sort of portrays how I was feeling, and I think a lot of nurses were feeling, from the frantic beginning to them just becoming very careful and controlled and anxious and making sure that everything is very — trying to exert control, when you don’t have control on your situation.”

Now based in Boston, Moeller has com- into something.” pleted about 20 paintings in her COVID-19 Although most of Li’s art practice series and is preparing to enter an MFA stu- doesn’t intersect with her work in health care, she made a comic last November dio art program at Syracuse University. based on a conversation between medical Bing Li: medical resident and illustrator residents working through COVID-19. “I’d Drawing was part of Dr. Bing Li’s life like to maybe eventually make more stuff before she considered studying medicine. that’s related to what we’re experiencing in Last year, as a medical resident who works health care, but it also feels like you’re kind in a Brooklyn emergency room, Bing turned of reliving the moment, and you may not to art as a way of managing the grueling feel necessarily ready for that.” hours and pervading feeling of helplessSince the pandemic began, Li has made ness while New York was the epicenter close to 30 pages of a lighthearted web of COVID-19. comic described as being “about adventure, Drawing landscape pieces and comics is friendship and a weird squishy creature.” a relaxing escape, a way to “feel like I have Although the pandemic doesn’t show up control and creating something that feels directly in the work, experiences of the last productive that’s also fun,” Li said. year are often prioritized in the storytelling Maintaining an art practice is crucial for — themes of working collectively for the the 32-year-old. “We all see a lot of suffer- greater good, Li said, and “having a society ing that doesn’t necessarily have a mean- that will care for each other, rather than a ing,” Li said. “But then the desire to make selfish society where people care just about art is kind of like a desire to put a meaning their individual comforts.”

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