In her 21 years as a nurse, most of it in emergency medicine, Blessing Hospital emergency center nurse Tara Frank experienced moments during COVID she never imagined.

“We did things that you would never have expected to see – helping keep patients separated and managing demand for care by using a tent in the parking, and on other occasions turning the ambulance bay and an area across from the waiting room into treatment and holding areas,” Frank said.

“We adapt and we overcome,” she continued.

One thing Tara and her fellow ER nurses never did adapt to or overcome was loved ones not being able to be with patients in the hospital during much of COVID.

“Can you image your loved one being sick or injured and not being there?  You’re relying on nurses to call you. You want that update, but you also want your family member taken care of. It was stressful for loved ones and nurses.”

However, Frank and other Blessing nurses say COVID’s most nerve-wracking result was the process changes it brought nearly daily due to constantly changing national guidelines.

“It increased the stress level and demand on nurses,” said Karla Paris, RN, MSN, MBA, CEN, director, Blessing Hospital Emergency Center. “They cared for large numbers of acutely ill patients while keeping up with ever-changing expectations.”

“Blessing’s ER nurses were amazing,” Paris concluded. “Through the experience their trust in each other grew and an even more cohesive team formed.”

Cars, cars, everywhere cars

The busiest place in Quincy during the 2021 holiday season was not a store in the District or on Broadway, or Santa’s House in Washington Park. It was the Blessing Express Clinic. Hundreds of vehicles lined up daily there, from Thanksgiving into February, with people needing COVID testing as the omicron variant surged throughout the region and nationwide.

During January 2022, the Blessing Express Clinic care team saw 6,000 patients.

The predecessor to the Express Clinic, the Blessing Flu-Like Illness Center, saw nearly 16,000 patients over 10 months before the Blessing Express Clinic replaced it.

Blessing nurse practitioner Randi Donaldson, APRN, FNP-C, worked in both places and continues to work at the Blessing Express Clinic.  In the early days of Blessing’s COVID response, Randi lived in a trailer outside of her family home to protect her loved ones from what she may have been exposed to at work.  Randi is proud to have been part of the Blessing’s COVID response.

“I am not sure where all of these people would have gone to get their care without access to the Flu-Like Illness Screening Center and Blessing Express Clinic,” Randi said. “A lot of people would have missed out on the good care that they needed. We were able to provide that care for them.”

Kelly Maisel, RN, worked at both places, too. She is now manager of Blessing’s Express and Walk-In Clinics.

“Being a nurse during the pandemic was exciting,” Kelly stated. “My goal was to try to help as many people as I could, to calm people’s fears and make them feel comfortable.”

“If this was going to be successful (the Screening Center and Express Clinic), I wanted to be a part of it,” she concluded.

Click here to read more stories that recognize our great team of nurses! The exceptional care our team provides to our communities is second to none and we are honored to work alongside you to provide care to our friends and neighbors.