In case you missed it, last month I had the pleasure of interviewing four nurses to learn how they are doing after a year of COVID-19, what they learned, how they persevered, and what advice they have for others. I encourage you to read and/or listen to these interviews. They are encouraging and inspiring – nurses are pretty amazing. I’m also including my favorite quote from each of these nurses; they had so many wise words, it was hard to choose!

“This year has been lots of fear, lots of faith, marked by lots of personal and professional growth as well, pushing passed what I thought my limits were…getting uncomfortable and growing immensely along the way.”
Kristle Akau, ADN, RN
Listen to podcast.

“I’m proud to say that not one patient in my ICU died alone. There was always someone behind the door with them, holding their hand.”
Elizabeth Tomaszewski, DNP, CRNP, CCRN, ACNP-BC, ACNPC 
Listen to podcast. 

“One of the things that I really learned during this experience was the awesomeness of nurses. I always knew it, but now I really know it. Nurses responded fearlessly and courageously with grit and perseverance and innovation and I was never so proud to be a nurse and of nursing.”
Rosanne Raso, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, FAONL 
Listen to podcast.

“A big thing for me was…during a pandemic, nothing is an emergency. And what I mean by that is…you know, if your patient codes, you go running into the room; but during a pandemic – when you have a COVID-positive patient in a negative pressure room – it’s vital that you care for yourself and get that PPE on correctly.”
Wendy Hutchison Palma, BSN, RN 
Listen to podcast.