ALUMNI NEWS
Healthcare Heroes Alumni Faces on the Frontlines
By Bekah Johnson, Advancement and Alumni Relations
Lesley Charles, CRNA (’05) Baptist Health Medical Center
Haven Crabtree, RN (’13) Neurology/Neurosurgery UAMS
Caleb Craig, Pharm.D, BCPS (’04) Clinical Pharmacist, St. Joseph Hospital Denver, CO
Abby Emanuel, RN (’11) Travel Nurse, Medical Solutions
The saying is true: “Not all heroes wear capes.” Heroes also wear scrubs, lab coats, gloves, surgical masks, goggles, and face shields. While the bravery and selflessness of healthcare workers were evident before COVID-19, these medical professionals have risen to the challenge and continued to save lives even now at the risk of their own. LRCA is proud to claim many of these heroes as our alumni. Several alumni share their recent experiences here.* How has COVID-19 affected your work? Kristen: Work has changed drastically. Every aspect of patient care in the emergency department is different. From rationing out PPE and wearing masks constantly throughout our entire shift, to figuring out how to balance taking care of critically ill patients while protecting yourself. Jillian One of the ways is the elimination of visitors. Jillian: The patients in the ICU are incredibly sick and aren’t allowed to have family with them. We have had to step in and be there for these patients like their families would be. Whether this means spending extra time talking to patients, holding their hand when the times are difficult, or praying for them, we have to act as family to them. This has also been very rewarding. Knowing that, as a nurse, I am making a difference in the lives of these patients is motivation to keep working hard!
30 THE WARRIOR • SPRING 2020
Chase We’ve all been directly exposed to COVID Chase: patients despite our best efforts to screen and whatnot. My hospital (and the others where I work) have had to implement many different screening measures to all faculty, staff, doctors, nurses, and incoming patients in order to best limit exposure. We also haven’t been allowing any visitors of any kind into the hospital unless [the patient is] pregnant or there’s been a death, in which case they are allowed one visitor. Our ER is locked up tight and looks like how it is in all of the quarantine movies where it’s just plastic sheets and walls separating hallways and duct taped top to bottom in order to limit airflow and traffic. Lesley While the surgery caseload has been much Lesley: lower during the pandemic, our anesthesia department has been needed in some new capacities. Our group developed COVID-19 anesthesia teams that we rotate our providers through, in which we respond to and treat incoming
