March_eMagazine Volume 39

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OUR PEOPLE, OUR MISSION A New Series: SARS-COV2 PANDEMIC AND US Global Health eMagazine March 2022 A Nursing Professor’s Perspective in Teaching During a Pandemic Part 1 Written by Monica Sousa Ed.D, ACNS-BC, APRN Professor of Nursing at Western Connecticut State University A Note from Dr. Sadigh Reflections on 2021 Highlights Nursing Division SARS COV-2 Pandemic and Us Unification Condolences: Paul Farmer Art to Remind Us of Who We Can Be Articles of the Month Videos of the Month Announcements Calendar Resources I will always remember being in the meeting with faculty, the department of nursing chair, and the dean on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 when we discussed how this new virus that seemed so far away from us was now in our backyard. We tried to think of scenarios of what might be happening, how we would meet clinical hour requirements if we had to go virtual, what faculty might need to teach online, what equipment would be required, and the resources students might need to learn in the virtual environment. At the time we had no idea what a long rough road was ahead of us. Two days later, our university along with all the schools in our area closed. The anxiety of not knowing what was happening loomed large, as did the fear of getting sick and wondering what I would do if any of my family members contracted COVID-19. I do not think I slept that weekend. We thought that since the following week was spring break we would isolate for the week and be back the next week. However, before the weekend had ended, we received a flood of emails that the university was going virtual for the remainder of the semester. The anxiety, worry, and fear intensified tremendously. So many questions raced through my head constantly. How was I going to prepare myself and my children during this chaotic time? How was I going to educate nursing students in their last two months of school before graduation and prepare them to take their state board nursing exam while teaching online? How was I going to be there for my students and colleagues? How do I plan for something I have never experienced? Over spring break, I went to campus to bring everything I could think of home that I would or could need for class, committee meetings, and projects I had been working on. I had no idea exactly what I needed but figured I might as well bring everything just in case. It was an eerie feeling to walk onto campus. It was like a ghost town with a strange and unsettling vibe. I wondered when I would see students back in the classroom and have meetings with colleagues in the same room. I went home to figure out a plan to manage everything. At home, I had to help my two young daughters with their online schooling, find a babysitter to come to the house so I could work, and figure out how to get groceries and household essentials. For work, I had to think about how to convert all class materials to the online environment, prepare graduating nursing students to enter the profession in the middle of a pandemic, and provide support to students as they struggled with a mode of education they did not sign up for or prepare for. So many balls up in the air and I just prayed that they would fall in line eventually. I met with faculty via video conferencing to discuss our next steps and how to move coursework to the online environment. The university was great at providing resources and training regarding teaching in the online environment. The nursing department was extremely fortunate to have most of the faculty using the learning management system (i.e., Blackboard) regularly for our classes. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Blackboard was used to post lecture PowerPoints, class resources, assignments, discussion questions, etc. It was primarily a place to house course material and submit assignments. Due to many factors the university decided that courses would be asynchronous. This meant students and faculty did not meet at a regularly scheduled time. Lecture material would be posted, and assignments would be submitted online by the due date. Pandemic and Us continued on next page >> 12
OUR PEOPLE, OUR MISSION Global Health eMagazine March 2022 A Nursing Students’s Perspective During a Pandemic Written by Sarah Cordisco Senior Nursing Student at the University of Vermont The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted my college education. As a senior nursing student, I am disappointed that it has had such a profound impact on my education and new career. The pandemic that created staffing shortages, unsafe nursing assignments, and an unheard of number of deaths, while revealing the many holes in our healthcare system. It has entirely shifted my view of nursing. The expected feelings of anxiety and excitement that come with starting a career, have become muddied with worsening fears and worries about the future state of health care, staff safety, and patient safety. The burnout healthcare workers are facing is unlike any before and it is disheartening that I need to consider this in myself before I have even completed my education. It becomes depressing to see nurses in person, and on social media express their feelings of hopelessness and despair over the state of our current health system. These feelings are reflected in how our current nursing leaders and mentors teach us students, how they provide patient care, and how they treat those around them. A Note from Dr. Sadigh Reflections on 2021 Highlights Nursing Division SARS COV-2 Pandemic and Us Unification Condolences: Paul Farmer Art to Remind Us of Who We Can Be Articles of the Month Videos of the Month Announcements I have yet to start my official position as an RN, however, I had been working as a resident care assistant caring for patients with Alzheimer’s while in school. During the first wave, I had first hand experience with death, illness, staffing shortages, and serious health concerns. In many ways, I already feel the burnout. The extra stress created by the pandemic has caused many of my peers to question the field they have chosen. At one point I even questioned it. What I learned about nursing at the beginning of college has been completely altered to fit pandemic nursing. We have had to change how we learn and practice nursing considering a whole different dimension. Like other college students, the pandemic forced me to learn in a remote capacity. While professors did the best they could, online classes were not nearly as rich as in person. Zooming into class created massive issues. There were constant tech problems, and I found it incredibly difficult to concentrate and stay focused. More difficulties arose when we had group projects and exams. This made my junior year of college even more difficult than it already was. I find it hard to feel prepared for my future job, as I am entering a profession during an unprecedented time. I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that my professors cannot prepare me for this, as they have not experienced it themselves. They have tried to give me the education and experience to be a nurse, but no one was prepared to be a nurse in a pandemic. Despite all this, I can say I have learned a lot from experiencing a pandemic. I have learned how to be more adaptable, self-reliant, and resilient. I have gained skills and new ways of thinking that otherwise would have only happened with years of experience. All the pressure and changes I have dealt with, will make me a better nurse and my practice will benefit in the future. It can be hard to think about the future when you look at the world around you, but there is a future. We don’t know what it will look like, or how it will function, but it will be there. And hopefully, we will have made the changes necessary to better support our students, nurses and patients. Calendar Resources Click here to visit the Nuvance Health Global Health Program COVID-19 Resource Center Pandemic and Us continued on next page >> 13
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March_eMagazine Volume 39

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