Marianne Langlois
What do you do?
MSA, Director, Henry Ford Medical Centers: Cottage/Pierson/ Clair Shores/Hamtramck, & Director of the Department of Family Medicine and Comprehensive Care Program
How has Covid-19 affected your work day?
As a Director my focus before COVID-19 was assuring patients had access to care, managing their health issues and providing staff with the tools to meet these patient needs. Sunday, March 15th this all changed. My focus now is to communicate and educate my staff as the virus continues to progress. Focus has been to create medical services virtually by video, telephone and messages through the electronic medical record. My car is a new mode of transportation for medical supplies as I drive them to other sites anything we can share.
Do you have any inspiring stories about the experience?
I am humbled with the examples of what we all call the “Cottage Culture” with the way our team has stepped forward to help in any role as we created screening stations at all our entrances and changing the way we service our patients.
What has this taught you?
We are flexible and can manage through any crisis if we support each other. I remind staff to care for themselves and have taken this to heart to take care of myself as a priority.
Dr. Stacey Lemanski
What do you do?
Ob/Gyn-Ascension St John Hospital, Part time faculty physician training resident doctors and students, Care for obstetric and gynecologic patients, and
Serve as the clinical lead for the Obstetric Initiative and Michigan AIM projects
How has Covid-19 affected your work day?
COVID 19 has impacted our workflow in several ways. First all elective procedures have been canceled to create capacity for the surge of COVID 19 patients we are seeing. I never see a patient now without the proper PPE (personal protective equipment). Sometimes this is simply a mask. Other times this would include a gown and gloves. Lastly I would say that there is more stress on the floor because everyone wants to take great care of our patients while also doing everything we can to keep ourselves and our families healthy and safe. Overall I feel incredibly blessed to work in hospital that is full of the goodness of God.
Do you have any inspiring stories about the experience?
I have a friend named Ally Turner whose husband, Bill, saw a need and filled a need. He was aware of the shortage of proper PPE and created and donated reusable face shields to our hospital. These face shields can literally save lives as they protect the eyes, nose, and mouth from becoming infected with COVID 19. They were especially important to our anesthesia team who is at extremely high risk from all the intubations they are performing.
What has this taught you?
Trials are never pleasant, but they do have a way of helping us to refine our focus. When we boil it all down, what really matters is simple: God and people. One pattern that I see in my life is that God is frequently inviting me to trust in deeper ways. I tend to be a very self-reliant person but God wants me to rely on Him. It’s not that hard to trust God when life is going smoothly but a crisis will reveal if we are willing to trust Him in the hard times. I want to love and trust God in both the good and hard times because He’s a perfect Father who always proves Himself faithful.
Ruth Queenan
What do you do?
BSN, RN, Nurse Manager, Henry Ford Cottage Hospital Emergency Department.
How has Covid-19 affected your work day?
Since the Covid-19 crisis, there are no normal work days. Each day brings a new challenge, whether it be staff being exposed and being furloughed or running out of Personal Protective equipment. I have worn many hats since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, from ED Nurse Manager to Bedside ED Nurse, Ambulatory Covid-19 specimen collector, Respiratory Therapist, Housekeeper, Supply Chain Manager and Operations Manager. Every day is different from the day before and I have learned to expect new challenges each day.
Do you have an inspiring experience?
Some local organizations, ie. Racing for Kids and GP Moms Swap and Chat Facebook group, have graciously provided us food, prepared by local restaurants, to be shared among the front-line staff. After only seeing my staff’s masked and shielded faces for most of the last 3 weeks, it is great to see their smiling faces as we take a short 5 minutes, in our break room, with our masks off as we enjoy these meals together. We appreciate the generosity and thoughtfulness immensely!
What has this taught you?
It has taught me that we can come together and conquer this virus. I have learned how to change paths in mid-flight. It has also taught me that our community really cares about our well-being. I have also learned that we, as healthcare providers on the front-line, need to take care of each other to keep each other safe.
Heidi Koenig Kemper
What do you do?
MSN, RN, Clinical Nurse Manager of Interventional Heart and Vascular and Radiology and Non-Invasive Nurses. I have been the Clinical Nurse Manager of the Interventional Heart and Vascular Department at Beaumont, Grosse Pointe for the last 4 1/2 years. This department includes the Cardiac Catheterization Lab, Interventional Radiology, EP Implants and Vascular Interventional procedures. I have a 24/7 responsibility for all parts of making sure the department runs smoothly and efficiently 365 days a year. This includes being responsible to run all day to day operations including staffing, scheduling, education, supplies and inventory, quality initiatives and quality improvements, policies and procedures, fiscal and financial accountability and management, and ownership of keeping the department in regulatory compliance with the State of Michigan and other regulatory bodies such as The Joint Commission and accrediting bodies.
How has COVID affected your work day?
The Interventional Heart and Vascular department that I manage is a procedural area. When we first started receiving COVID patients the hospital cancelled all outpatient procedures until May 1st. The only procedures we are able to do at this time are urgent or emergent procedures such as heart catheterizations for patients having an ST elevation heart attack. Because we have essentially no procedures, the nurses and techs in the department have been redeployed to other areas of the hospital such as the ICU’s and the ER to assist with the surge of patients we have in our hospital with COVID.
Every day the last few weeks has been different as the COVID-19 epidemic has been a very fluid situation. This is an unprecedented time in health care and every day we are innovating, thinking outside the box and doing things we have never done before. To be honest, every day I ask myself “have I done enough? Is there something else I can do to help?”
In addition to my daily responsibilities, I have been doing special projects related to PPE and protection of our front-line health care workers. I have also been helping set up training shifts for nurses who haven’t been at the bedside in a while so that they can be reoriented and feel confident in the care they give.
Do you have an inspiring experience to share?
Every day I’ve been inspired watching all the healthcare workers step up, ready to go wherever they are needed. Everyone is stressed and overwhelmed at times, but everyone is so supportive of each other. I’ve never been prouder to be a nurse!
What has this taught you?
This has taught me to live for today and take one day at a time. I have truly embraced living in the now. If I look too far ahead I begin to feel anxious of the unknown. When I find myself becoming overwhelmed, I stop and take three cleansing breaths to return myself to the moment of now. It works every time. I’ve also learned during this time that meditation and getting out in nature to ground and cleanse my energy is a great practice for self care. As healthcare workers self care is paramount during this Pandemic. Lastly, what I’ve learned the most is how much I hug people throughout the day and giving air hugs is just not the same. The thing I look most forward too after the pandemic is hugs -real squishy warm hugs!
Nicole Ouellette-Richardville
What do you do?
Speciality Nurse Manager, Cottage Campus
How has Covid-19 affected your work day?
There are so many unknown factors regarding this virus that severely impact our days. The unknowns result in fear and anxiety for both patients and staff alike. Health care is based on scientific facts, however when you don’t have t/know the science it’s very hard to navigate. We are in constant crisis management mode, so we have done a great job with supporting each other as well as our staff. Henry Ford has a tremendous culture of compassion and it’s essentially the back bone of our daily work.
Do you have any inspiring stories about the experience?
I don’t have one story in particular, however several that have shown me the courage, strength and pride in work that our staff has shown over the past few weeks. As well, the amount of “thank you’s” that I receive while simply walking down the block during lunch. What I do hope for, however, is at the end of this ordeal, the immense kindness that people are showing now continues. We must show compassion for our fellow humans.
What has this taught you?
These things I’ll share are things I already know and live by, however have been reinforced so significantly during this time that I can’t help but pass them on:
1- We are extraordinary
2- No experience is ever wasted – gleam from them everything you can.
3- Be understanding and patient with people, because we are all doing the best we can with what we have in any given moment.
4- Be gracious and kind, always