I’m currently enrolled in Jefferson’s nurse anesthesia DNP program, and my sister, Alison, works at a major New York City medical center as an RN in the cardiothoracic ICU. She has been strong and brave throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’ve always shared a close bond. Alison inspired me to use my skills and background and head to New York to help. Her hospital accepted me into a six-week travel nursing assignment for an ICU position.

My first week on the job was the most intense in terms of patient-to-nurse ratio and acuity of these patients. They assigned me to the “OR ICU,” a new ICU created exclusively for COVID-19 patients since all the traditional ICUs had soared to 200 percent capacity. I had three patients to myself in one OR suite, each person had an anesthesia machine as their ventilator. Fortunately, I’m familiar with this equipment from Jefferson’s program and clinical practice. I had over 30 drips to manage, and each patient was on CRRT, which is continuous dialysis.