There are few medical situations that unsettle Kellie Seder-Mario, an experienced nurse with a background in emergency care. She encountered just such a circumstance this spring during the coronavirus outbreak.
“It was a very stressful time not knowing a lot about COVID-19,” the youth health services manager at The Guild for Human Services says of the height of the pandemic. “No one knew how this was going to play out.”
Compounding Kellie’s concern was the inability of her nurses who were responsible for the medical care of the individuals living in The Guild’s eight youth homes to perform in-person assessments of patients with positive COVID-19 tests while the residences were under quarantine.
Fortunately, the nurses were able to conduct examinations remotely by reviewing images transmitted on cell phones and tablets by Guild staff at the homes. Residential staff closely monitored the youths who had tested positive and took their vital signs four times a day, immediately sharing the information with the nursing staff. They worked together to determine whether anyone needed to be seen by a physician.
“I think through this situation, we established a real trust between the nurses and the residential staff,” Kellie says. “We developed more of an appreciation of what each of us does. I know how hard they work and how underappreciated they are.”
Kellie and her nursing staff worked long hours to ensure that the individuals served by The Guild stayed safe and healthy. Kelly typically exchanged emails with her nurses, all of whom were working remotely, and residential staff late into the night.
“There was definitely a feeling of all of us being in this together and trying to do the best we could,” Kellie reports. “I think we can really build on this and make The Guild even better.”
