A nurse educator in the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak

Above photo: Harn Chiu, center, is a nurse educator on COVID-19 floors at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, which has become the nation’s epicenter for the coronavirus outbreak. Chiu is a student in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of Minnesota in health innovation and leadership.

Harn Chiu, a DNP student in the health innovation and leadership specialty, is training nurses on COVID floors at Mount Sinai Hospital

Harn Chiu typically works as a nurse educator in the operating room for Mount Sinai Hospital in East Harlem. But as New York City became the nation’s epicenter for the coronavirus outbreak, she was reassigned to assist in training nurses who were redeployed to serve on COVID floors. “The lack of a clear understanding of how this virus works made the first few weeks very difficult to get through,” said Chiu. “While it has been a very difficult month, I also feel incredibly lucky that I've been able to witness the resilience, dedication, creativity and goodwill that really keeps this city together.”

As a nurse educator who is accustomed to having answers to questions, Chiu found the number of unknowns about COVID-19 particularly frustrating. “Especially in the beginning, uncertainty bred much tension,” said Chiu. “There was, and still is, an incredible amount of moral distress involved with sending staff in to take care of COVID patients when we didn't know for sure if the virus was airborne or contact, and when many staff members who were properly attired in PPE were still falling sick with coronavirus symptoms.”

These yet-to-be-explained transmissions caused Chiu distress. “It's an especially challenging time to be a nurse educator, when many of those I feel responsible for keeping safe are posing difficult questions I simply don't have clear answers for,” said Chiu, who is a student in the University of Minnesota’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program in the health innovation and leadership specialty.

But as the challenging weeks in New York City have passed, better information is emerging and best practices are beginning to coalesce. “I’ve again and again been inspired by peoples’ willingness to work outside their comfort zone and help where they're most needed,” said Chiu, who lives in East Harlem. “I'm struck by the patience, kindness and dedication I see at all levels of staffing here.”

Despite the weight of the challenges, Chiu finds reasons to be grateful – from food delivery for entire units to the experience of hearing a city cheer for her profession and all those serving on the frontline. “Every night at 7 p.m. sharp it begins: pots banging, car horns honking, people whooping out their windows and even the dogs often join in,” said Chiu. “It's touching to see so many people coming together in support of each other. While I think most nurses will agree that we don't need any thanks, the encouragement and solidarity is certainly very welcome and much appreciated.”

Recently, her friends sent her a YouTube link with the instructions to open at 7 p.m. “They had done a big Zoom meeting to capture their own cheering and pot-banging for me, complete with signs and big smiles. I was, of course, in tears,” she said.

She sees signs of hope. “Yesterday was the first day that my hospital system had a lower number of coronavirus patients (1,811) than the day before,” said Chiu. She adds that patient rooms constructed in the lobby have not been filled, and there is talk that anesthesia machines will be taken off of the units, where they were used as makeshift ventilators, and returned to the operating rooms. She’s also heard that shipments of PPE are due soon to arrive.

“So while we're a long way from winning the fight, a glimmer of light has finally appeared at the end of the tunnel,” said Chiu. “I only hope that future generations of leadership realize the importance of public health and that the lessons we learned here aren't soon forgotten.”

At 7 p.m. every day, the people of New York City stop to cheer for health professionals and all those who are serving on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. On a recent Saturday, officers from the New York Police Department and Fire Department of the City of New York drove by Mount Sinai Hospital to join the cheering.