Tag: nurse

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In Iowa, an emergency room nurse is the first to get the vaccine.

In Iowa, an emergency room nurse is the first to get the vaccine.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The vaccine arrived at the University of Iowa Hospital at 7:30 a.m. in a refrigerated FedEx truck, and it wasn’t long before the first dose was injected into her arm. David Conway, 39, emergency room nurse. .

“I’m not nervous, I’m very excited,” he said afterwards. “I have been looking forward to the vaccine since March.”

Mr Conway, who works directly with Covid-19 patients, said the shot was painless, but got it at the start of a few days off, just in case there were any side effects in the short run. term. Some clinical trial beneficiaries have reported feeling ill for a day or two and Mr Conway is not due to return to work until Saturday.

“I can’t wait for my wife and children to get the vaccine,” he said.

The hospital plans to vaccinate 130 people on Monday and continue until it has used the 975 doses in the consignment, according to the hospital’s general manager, Suresh Gunasekaran. Each recipient is then observed for 15 minutes to monitor for allergic reactions.

Gunasekaran said the hospital eventually wanted to vaccinate its 17,000 employees, but was not sure when its next shipment will arrive from Pfizer. When a similar Moderna vaccine is cleared, he said, the hospital expects to have access to many more doses.

Mr Conway wore street clothes, a plastic mask and face shield, and said getting shot was not a reason to stop wearing a mask, washing your hands frequently or maintaining social distance. “I won’t do anything different until everyone is vaccinated,” he said.

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Oregon nurse is put on leave for mocking video masks TikTok

Oregon nurse is put on leave for mocking video masks TikTok

Oregon nurse who mocked state pandemic protocols in a video that circulated on TikTok saying she does not wear a mask in public has been put on administrative leave, her employer said .

The nurse, who has not been named, is an employee of Salem Health, which operates Salem Health Hospital in Salem, Ore., And other medical facilities treating Covid-19 patients in the state, which has had at least 74,120 cases and 907 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to a New York Times database.

Salem Health said in a statement that members of the public alerted the company to the video, which it said showed “cavalier disregard for the severity of this pandemic.” Local media reported that the nurse, who worked in the oncology unit, posted the video from a TikTok account which has since been deleted and the video was later reposted as a “duo” version on the platform.

The video shows the nurse wearing scrubs and a stethoscope around her neck, with a caption saying she doesn’t wear a mask in public, arranges play dates for her children and continues to travel.

The nurse could not be reached on Monday. KPTV reported that she declined to be interviewed when a reporter visited her home.

“Yesterday, a nurse employed by Salem Health posted a video on social media that showed cavalier disregard for the severity of this pandemic and her indifference to physical distancing and masking outside of work,” said Salem Health in her statement, which she posted on Facebook. the Saturday.

Credit…@ Loveiskind05 via TikTok

“This video caused an uproar from concerned members of the community,” the health system said. “We would like to thank those of you who have brought this to our attention and assure you that we take this very seriously. This person does not speak for Salem Health and has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

The health care system has not identified the nurse. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The healthcare system’s Facebook post drew more than 1,000 comments, including from people who said they had relatives in the hospital. Some called for the nurse’s dismissal, while others questioned the difference between state mandates in private and public spaces.

“Is there a law in Oregon that medical professionals must wear a mask when off the clock and out of the hospital?” one reader wrote, adding that the video was “very irresponsible and shows no compassion for people who have experienced covid.”

As officials have done in other states to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Oregon Governor Kate Brown has imposed tough measures, with a two-week freeze on many activities from Nov. 18 to Dec. 2. and limiting gatherings to six people from no more than two households. Oregon also has a statewide mask mandate.

Salem Health said it requires its staff, patients and visitors to follow the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These guidelines include washing your hands, wearing masks that cover your mouth and nose when around other people, and social distancing, which she says are effective methods of slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

Referring to the video, the company said, “This reckless statement does not reflect the position of Salem Health or the hardworking and dedicated caregivers who work here.”

“The Covid pandemic is serious and requires a serious response,” the company added. “And at Salem Health, we take our approach to Covid very seriously.”

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Jeannette Williams-Parker, nurse in a virus outbreak, dies at 48

Jeannette Williams-Parker, nurse in a virus outbreak, dies at 48

This obituary is one in a series on people who died in the coronavirus pandemic. Learn about the others here.

Jeannette Williams-Parker loved 80s and 90s rock music. She played AC / DC and Prince while driving or cleaning the house. The big, loud beat spoke of its mischievous side, from childhood: the 2-year-old girl running naked in the street at bath time; the young daredevil who hurtled down the hill on her Big Wheel bike, half-scaring her mother.

Ms Williams-Parker, known to her friends as Netty, also had a caring side. She was a registered nurse for 26 years, the last 23 of them at JW Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va.

“She went above and beyond her job description,” her daughter, Haley Parker, said in a telephone interview. Ms Williams-Parker once noticed that the parents of a sick child had spent long hours in the hospital, so she gave them a change of clothes and a meal.

She died on September 30 at the hospital where she worked. She was 48 years old. The cause was complications from Covid-19, her daughter said.

Ms Williams-Parker was the first nurse in West Virginia to die of the novel coronavirus, said Julie Huron, executive director of the West Virginia Nurses Association; two other nurses have since died.

West Virginia was the last state in the country to report a confirmed case of the virus on March 17, and numbers have remained low throughout the spring. But like many largely rural areas, the state has recently seen a spike in cases.

It is not known how or where Ms Williams-Parker contracted the virus. Her fiancé, Bryan Ingram, fell ill with what he initially thought was a sinus infection. Soon he and then Ms Williams-Parker tested positive for Covid-19. The Saturday before her death, she called her mother, Ruth Bagwell, to tell her that she was short of breath and had a fever. On Monday, she was taken by ambulance to hospital. Wednesday she was gone.

“She never thought that would happen to her,” Ms. Bagwell said.

Jeannette Delphia Williams was born July 17, 1972 in Fairmont, West Virginia. Her mother worked as a cook for the Marion County Board of Education. His father, Roy Williams, was a coal miner.

Ms Williams-Parker received her nursing degree from Fairmont State University and spent three years at CAMC Memorial Hospital in Charleston before going to work for JW Ruby, which serves as the primary clinical teaching and research site for West Virginia University School of Medicine.

Ms Williams-Parker was an MRI nurse supervisor and clinical nurse preceptor, teaching new RNs. When she died, she was responsible for nursing for all coordination of the pediatric anesthesia and the ultrasound MRI program. She was working on her bachelor’s degree in nursing.

In addition to her mother, daughter and fiance, Mrs. Williams-Parker is survived by her stepfather, Ron Bagwell; one brother, Bill Williams; a half-brother, Christopher Bagwell; and a half-sister, Natalie Swiger. Her marriage to Brian Parker ended in divorce.

Ms Williams-Parker wanted her daughter to follow in her footsteps. Haley, who is 18, instead enrolled in a pre-med program at WVU to become a doctor.

Haley had received tuition assistance through a program for dependents of WVU Medicine employees. After her mother died, the hospital informed her in a letter that because Ms Williams-Parker was no longer an employee, Haley would no longer receive help. However, the hospital reversed its decision last week and now says it will honor its pledge.