Daniel Drake Center for Post-Acute Care nursing unit provides compassionate care during COVID-19.
Chantal Robinson Gibbs, RN, has always had a major goal in life: to help people. As a UC Health nursing manager on 3 North at the Daniel Drake Center for Post- Acute Care, she found her calling. She is surrounded with team members who are committed to excellence when providing care to patients requiring long-term acute care.
3 North consists of about 45 associates and can hold up to 38 patients total with seven rooms available to admit active COVID-19 patients. The nursing team is comprised of seasoned professionals. But according to Chantal, there is not enough training, theoretical knowledge and firsthand experience that can prepare a nurse for a pandemic.
We had to adapt and adapt quickly,... No one has been through this before, but we were going through it together. I think that gave us strength for our patients.
3 North at Daniel Drake Center is accustomed to providing care for patients suffering from trauma, stroke and heart-related cases. When the team began attending to COVID-19 patients in March 2020, there was not any protest made, just immediate dedication to providing the best care possible.
“Everyone became hyper-focused with every little detail,” Chantal said. “Our team has daily huddles and works closely with our cleaning team, therapy, respiratory and on-site physicians. If a team member was exhausted, someone stepped in to help. Everyone got their turn taking care of COVID-19 patients, and we all had each other’s backs while doing so.”
Given there was ever-changing information regarding COVID-19, 3 North consulted closely with UC Health physicians while studying the most up-to-date insights provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This proved to be vital when caring for severe COVID-19 cases including patients who were suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s.
“There is a lot for our unit to be proud of from how we adapted during COVID-19,” Chantal said. “I think what I am most proud of, though, is that we never forgot to take care of each other while we did everything we could to take care of the sickest of the sick when they needed it most.”
Working on the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Trial
We asked Laura to share with us her experience working on the Moderna vaccine trial, and how it has impacted her career. Laura Cho, CNP, worked primarily in the Women’s Center in West Chester before the pandemic. But when UC Health became part of the Moderna vaccine trial, Laura decided she wanted to be part of it.
How has COVID-19 affected your daily life?
Prior to COVID-19, I was in UC Health’s West Chester Hospital the majority of the time, working at my primary care practice. I do see woman in the Women’s Center ages 17 and up. Since then, I started volunteering with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial, hoping to find a safe and effective vaccine for the community. That has been a change for me, but a change that I’ve enjoyed as well.
How has the pandemic affected you both personally and professionally?
I think in both ways, it’s given me a layer that we’ve needed to juggle, both professionally and at home. My husband is a first responder, so between the two of us, we’ve been very busy. There has not been a shutdown time for us. The community and our patients are still there and making sure we can provide that safe, quality, cost-effective care for them is very important. It’s been a challenge for us to make sure we have been able to triumph in doing that.
Who has helped you get through this challenging time?
It is a whole team of people, not only the professional team. Our leadership has been huge. My coworkers and the staff have been awesome, and of course, my family on all ends. I’m currently finishing my doctorate at the University of Cincinnati, so I haven’t put that on hold. I just keep on moving through all this as well, which has been a challenge. I would say the school has been a huge supporter. The faculty and staff there that work within our doctorate program have really pushed us so that we can do this and we can continue.
What do you hope we learn from COVID-19?
I hope we all learn that we are truly a community. No matter where we are in the world, we are all in this together. The goal of all of this research and the outcome we are looking for is to stay together as a community, to understand one another and to know that everybody matters and everybody is in a different place in their life and that we just need to have an understanding for each other as a person.