Answering the Call During the Pandemic

Answering the Call By Innovation

Ginny Bowers, CNM, IBCLC, RC Easton, Maryland On March 18, 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, Ginny Bowers posted her innovative idea on social media: “Mobile midwifery! Taking care of my pregnant mamas in their cars in order to help out our community.” As the Head Midwife at Chesapeake Women’s Health in Easton, Maryland, Bowers recognized the need to reduce the risks of exposure to her pregnant patients. Having them come into the office for appointments added risks that could be avoided by offering a drive-up option.

Answering the Call By Boat and By Plane

Julie Drude, FNP, DNP Travel Nurse

Julie Drude began working as a travel nurse in 2012, with her first assignment being the rural town of Bethel, Alaska. She worked there again in 2015 and 2017, and in Valdez, Alaska in the summer of 2020. In the winter of 2021, she worked in Homer, delivering the COVID vaccine to patients in a remote village accessible only by plane or boat.

“I felt very well prepared as a Frontier graduate to do any job,” she said. “I love the emphasis on rural health and getting outside of your comfort zone and going where no one has gone before to serve. Frontier ingrains that in you.”

Answering the Call By Serving Where Needed

Joy McElyea, MSN, CNM, RN, CNEP, DNP, Gunnison, Colorado In non-COVID times, Joy McElyea primarily works as a CNM in an outpatient clinic. As an APRN, however, she was prepared when needed at a local hospital. “My nursing background is corrections and long-term care. But these days, I’m standing next to ER doctors and EMS crews,” she said. “I am so thankful that Frontier continues on, adapting just like all of us on the front lines, supporting students just as we support our patients. Health care will be different after this, but the flexibility, empathy, understanding, and forward-thinking nature of the FNU community will prepare us well for whatever role we find ourselves in. And for that, I am grateful.”

Answering the Call By Going the Extra Miles

Jean Volm, MSN, FNP Travel Nurse

Risking one’s health and safety to help others is truly heroic. That is what Jean Volm did in the midst of the pandemic. After losing her position in Wisconsin due to the pandemic, she began looking for travel nursing options. There were many to choose from, but understanding that New York and New Jersey were COVID-19 hotspots, that’s where she looked first. Soon she was on her way to Hackensack, New Jersey. “I was contacted by a recruiter regarding an eight-week, 48-hours per week RN assignment at Hackensack University Medical Center,” she said. “I arrived here on April 15 and started working 12-hour night shifts on April 16.”

Answering the Call By Education

Jaime Westlund, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, Hawaii

Jaime Westlund is a nurse practitioner in the general surgery department at Ali’i Health Center in Kailua, Kona. During the pandemic, she screened patients for the virus and created and distributed informative posters about COVID-19 throughout the community. “We live on an island so it is truly rural health care at its finest. I took an oath to answer the call, and I have been doing that within my community,” she said.

Answering the Call By Sense of Duty

Julian Williams, RN, CMRSN, FNP-C Inwood, New York Sometimes “answer the call” means literally answering the call. When the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) called in the spring of 2020, Julian Williams answered. FEMA contracted him for COVID-19 disaster response and he began working at Coler Rehabilitation and Nursing in New York City. “I came into this position knowing the inherent risks associated with exposure to COVID-19,” he said. “I won’t lie and say that I did not have my reservations given my own risk factor -- an underlying heart abnormality -- but I knew that my training, clinical expertise, and my commitment to healthcare necessitated my need to respond and help my new community. FNU taught me to ‘Answer the Call’ whenever and wherever I am needed. This was no exception. It was my pleasure and duty to respond when called.”