Amazing Alumni
Baptism By Fire Nursing Graduates Find Themselves on the Front Lines of the Pandemic By Jimmy Knight, Director of the Cothran Center for Career Readiness
Graduation from college is normally a time of excitement, transition, and hope for the future. But imagine graduating this May, into a climate of fear, lockdowns, and social upheaval. Now, imagine that you’re launching into a career that immediately places you on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19. That’s exactly where many of the 2020 graduating class from the Judge-McRae School of Nursing found themselves this summer. We asked three recent graduates what it has been like to transition from college to the working world, into the teeth of a global pandemic.
Cassidy Allen Patterson ’20 Givens Estates Becoming a new nurse during a pandemic is what some would call, “baptism by fire.” The days are long, personal protective equipment is in extremely short supply, patients are inconsolable and lonely without family by the bedside, and protocol and information for COVID-19 is ever changing. As a new nurse you always have the feeling you don’t know enough, but it is much worse when the information is constantly evolving such as with the COVID-19 virus. But it is through this pandemic that I have learned so much from those around me. Each day I see people who show up and get to work regardless of the risks associated with it. Nurses are not the only ones doing it either. I have seen environmental service workers in full PPE cleaning and disinfecting rooms so those rooms can be opened back up and used again; I have seen dining service workers show up everyday to feed patients regardless of the risks associated with our workplace; and I have seen maintenance workers wearing N-95 masks and face shields so they can come in and make sure equipment is in working order. I am sure none of these people ever thought that they would live or work through a time like this. Even so, they have committed themselves to contributing in any way they can. Families truly do not understand that nurses and doctors are the tip of the iceberg. You thank me because I am the face you see all the time, but I would not be able to do my job without the help of so many other people. 14 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Fall 2020
