COVID-19 forced Morgan Colston, RN, to move out of her family’s home.

“My mom provides in-home daycare. I moved out to prevent exposure,” said the Blessing Physician Services nurse. “It was a big change. My parents are still adjusting.”

Life changed quickly for the 22-year-old Colston and her parents. She became a registered nurse in November 2020 and in December began working in the Blessing Physician Services COVID Infusion Center, where she treated COVID-19 outpatients with one of two experimental medications.

“It is a great feeling to have the opportunity to help prevent patients with the virus from getting worse,” she stated.

Lucas Hugenberg, RN, experienced family sacrifice, too, as a caregiver in Blessing Hospital’s COVID-19 Unit from day one.

“I was willing to work on the unit,” said the 28-year-old. “In addition to providing the support needed by that patient population, I knew there were other staff members who could not work in the unit due to family considerations.”

His work duty changed his personal routine.

“I was not able to see my 97-year-old great-grandmother for nearly a year because I did not want to put her at risk of exposure,” Hugenberg said. “It was tough on me.”

But he added his great-grandmother made sacrifices, too.

“She lives at home alone. She gave up her hair appointments and going to play cards and everything. That is a lot to her,” Hugenberg concluded.

Family members of Deb Renoud, RN, have high risk health conditions for acquiring COVID-19. She managed to care for them as well as COVID patients admitted to Illini Community Hospital.

“I love helping people,” the 31-year veteran of Illini stated. “I care about our community and our hospital, so I helped out.”

Renoud knows others made sacrifices during the pandemic, too.

“Local businesses and organizations, who were suffering their losses, created care packages for us and brought us food. They encouraged us and were supportive,” she observed.

While the nurses she managed cared for COVID-19 patients, Tricia Boynton, RN, Blessing Health Keokuk, cared for her team.

“As a leader, I tried to set a good example for staff, stressing that we had a job to do,” she said. “COVID patients needed care, and it can be scary. But we have to do what we know how to do and what we love to do.”

Boynton says her team responded.

“Everybody was learning from every patient, every day, what worked and what didn’t work to get our COVID patients the best care possible,” she concluded.

Even after 36 years as a registered nurse, COVID left an indelible mark on the psyche of Karen Powers, FNP, BC, Hannibal Clinic, in her work at the Respiratory Clinic, and will be a force guiding her future patient encounters.

“COVID has affected people not only health-wise but emotionally,” she observed. “Some people have lost family members. Some people are fearful of going out in public. The virus has caused a tremendous impact in almost everyone’s lives in some way, and it will be there going forward.”

At Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing and Health Sciences, COVID nearly derailed the academic year, threatening dozens of future nurses’ plans. The faculty would not let that happen, quickly tranforming nursing education into a virtual experience.

“Our faculty utilized virtual tools they never used before, which very nicely plugged into our curriculum to deliver great results,” said Brenda Beshears, PhD, RN, president/chief executive officer, Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing. “The college faculty was spot on.”

The Blessing-Rieman Class of 2020 graduated on time and exceeded the national average for passing the nursing licensure exam.

Shared sacrifice, shared success.