Special Edition: Stories of Care
LONG TERM CARE NURSE CROSSES STATE LINES TO HELP HARDEST HIT AREAS
A West Virginia long term care nurse journeyed across state lines to help the hardest hit areas in New Jersey. “The majority of us got into nursing because we wanted to take care of people. We do what we have to do,” said Lisa Barlow, a Charleston nurse for Genesis Healthcare. “For what one doctor can do, it takes about 20 nurses behind the scenes doing the actual patient care,” said the president of the West Virginia Nurses Association. ELDERLY COUPLE SEPARATED BY CORONAVIRUS NOW REUNITED
A couple kept away from one another for 56 days due to complications with coronavirus were allowed to see each other again. Howard Smith visited his wife Lois Kittson every day, but restrictions at Lois’s memory care center put those on hold. The New Paltz Center, however, coordinated a socially distant visit in the driveway of the building. Howard spent the visit calmly bringing her up to date on news of the world, their family home in New York’s Hudson River Valley, and their 27-year-old daughter, Laurel, in Manhattan, who hopes to join him for another visit soon. LONG TERM CARE NURSE COMES OUT OF RETIREMENT TO CARE FOR SENIORS
A long term care nurse put her retirement on hold to ensure seniors are kept safe from coronavirus. Noting shortages in staffing affecting long term care buildings nationwide even before the spread of coronavirus, Marty Blankenship says she wanted to keep the most vulnerable in America safe. Marty was invited to the White House for a special event honoring nurses on National Nurses Day. NAINIKA’S #CARENOTCOVID MESSAGE OF SUPPORT
Nainika sent in a #CareNotCOVID message of support from California. She said “we are all in this together” and to “keep a smile on your face.”