THURSDAY, APR IL 30, 2020 • KOKOMO TR IBUNE / PHAROS-TR IBUNE
5
CARSON GERBER
KOKOMO TRIBUNE
S
tephanie Greer said she’s known she
wanted to be a nurse since she was a
little kid, because she’s always
known that she loves to take care of
people and help them through scary
times.
Now, Greer is fulfilling that lifelong
mission in a way she never could have
imagined.
The Kokomo resident is a registered
nurse working in the progressive-care
unit at Community Howard Regional
Health. That unit has now been classi-
fied as the COVID-19 unit where patients
infected with the virus are being treated.
Greer said her job has taken on a new
kind of purpose now that she’s working
on the frontlines of a pandemic that has
killed over 13,000 people in the U.S. and
over 250 in Indiana.
But it’s the kind of work she was
destined to do, Greer said.
“I feel like I’m doing what I signed up to
do in my profession,” she said.
In a lot of ways, working with coronavi-
rus patients is business as usual for Greer.
She said she normally works with cardiac
and critical-care patients, and she’s used
to treating people with serious diseases
and illnesses.
The only difference now is that the
people she’s treating have a virus that’s
become a pandemic.
“We have great support with Commu-
nity as a network, so we were pretty well
prepared early on for this,” Greer said.
“On the progressive-care unit, we’re used
to taking care of patients with influenza
and other disease processes, so I don’t
think this has really increased our stress
level.”
But the virus has presented some
unique challenges, she said.
The biggest difference is the fact that
patients can’t have any visits from family
or friends. Greer said because of the
quarantine, nurses and staff have started
adopting patients as a kind of temporary
family member to help them through
their isolation.
“We want to make sure that they’re
loved and cared for, and that they always
have someone with them, even though
we’re not their family member,” she said.
The hospital also tries to keep patients
in contact with loved ones as much as
possible through video chats and frequent
phone calls letting family members know
how the patient is doing.
And, Greer said, most patients with
COVID-19 are doing well. She said
although it’s the deaths that get the
headlines, most people are treated and
released.
“Through this pandemic, we’re able to
see the ones that are recovering,” she said.
“It’s not just about the ones who are not
making it through. It’s also about the ones
that are miracles and walk out of here.”
It may be business as usual for Greer,
but she still feels the stress and anxiety
that everyone is experiencing during the
stay-at-home order. That’s gotten better as
the weather has gotten warmer, but Greer
said it can still be tough.
“We leave our COVID scrubs in a bag
and go home and I immediately jump in
the shower and try to have some normalcy
in my personal life,” she said. “It’s just as
emotionally and mentally draining on
us as it is for others. I try to be cautious
about what I listen to on the news.”
But, Greer said, that stress is tempered
by all the support she’s received from the
community. She said it’s been overwhelm-
ing to see the number of residents and
local businesses that have donated food or
masks to the hospital.
“I feel very supported, which makes
it easier for me to come in and do what
I need to do,” she said. “I think in times
like this, it goes to show that everyone
really does love and care about each other.
When time slows down like it is now, I
think it brings out the support.”
In the end, Greer said, it may be a dif-
ficult time, but she knows her work is
what she’s meant to be doing, and is glad
to be on the frontlines fighting against the
spread of the coronavirus.
“Personally, I love what I do, and I do it
for a reason,” she said. “It’s rewarding, no
matter if there’s a pandemic or it’s just a
normal day on the progressive-care unit.
It’s just rewarding to take care of people.”
ON THE FRONT LINES
Nurse: Treating patients is what I was meant to do
Stephanie
Greer is a
registered
nurse
working
in the
progressive-
care unit at
Community
Howard
Regional
Health.
Photo by Tim Bath
