Hello, my name is Jessica Younkman and I have been a nurse for 4 years. I am been in healthcare since 2007 working from CNA to LPN and then to RN. I started off in the Emergency Department as a CNA while going to school and then stayed there as LPN and RN. The ED is where my love is but once I started to having a family and the Infection Prevention position came available at my hospital, I decided the “normal” hours worked better . I still like for my family. I still love to get down to the ED to help out whenever I can. I have an almost 2 year old and a 1 month old who keep me very busy, but taking this class on maternity leave should allow me a little more time.
When talking about research and my position, I feel like for the last few months before I had the baby that is all I was doing for COVID. In my current position it is important to stay up on the current practices for infection prevention in all areas of practices in order to keep the patients and staff safe. During this pandemic the recommendations were changing daily and doing research to have the staff do the best practice and collaborate with everyone involved is what I did daily. The proper PPE and extended use of those items was something that I was constantly looking up to make sure we were doing what was recommended. As with everything there is always conflicting research so just have to decided with the team the best practice and what works for the supplies we have.
Looking forward to going through this class.
Hey Jessica!
Congrats on the baby! How exciting! I feel like research and your position go hand and hand for sure. How do you like your current job? Do you get to go down often to the ER to assist? I think it would be awesome to do some research and still be able to “play” in the ER and have some direct patient care. Good post!
My current job is definitely different than my emergency room job but I do enjoy learning new things and it is great to get down to assist in the ER cause I do miss it!
Congratulations on the new baby! I think we have taken one other class together before, not sure which one…
Anyhow, good to “see” you again! What an interesting time to be in the position you are in at the hospital. Even though I am not currently working I feel like I have been doing research on COVID all the time. Like you said everything changes so much you almost have to do your own research at home to keep your family safe.
I recognize your name as well so very possible to have taken a class together. I dont think can not do research on COVID no matter what position as a healthcare worker you are and like you said even being at home want to have the evidence based information in order to stay safe. Good luck this semester!
Welcome to the course, Jessica!
Thank you! Looking forward to it!
Jessica,
Wow you are a busy lady with the little ones and school. I have 3 daughters but thankfully they are older. I totally understand the love of the ED but needing normal hours. I left the OR and ED to do the whole “normal hours” thing too! Good luck this semester!!
It can be challenging with young ones but luckily I have great support from my husband as we switch off since he is back in school as well! “Normal” hours are great but I do miss the ED and my 3-4 days a week. Both have advantages and disadvantages but right now this is best for my family!
That’s awesome that you have a great support system, that helps so much. Wow you are both in school, that’s awesome! Well then good luck to you both! I would agree gotta take care of those kiddos.
Hi Jessica,
Congratulations on your new baby, I am sure it was a very stressful time for you. Keeping up with all the changing policies on PPE was definitely a challenge. Many of my coworkers contracted covid before we started using PPE. There was much anxiety over learning the proper way to apply it and we found having a buddy present helped.
I am so sorry that coworkers contracted COVID. The short supply of PPE was/is definitely scary and a challenge to monitor what needs to be done. Luckily, I work with a great team to collaborate with.