National Nurses United

18 O C T O B E R 2 0 0 5 C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E WALKING THROUGH DEVASTATION IN MISSISSIPPI Janell McClung, RN, who works in the women's clinic at Kaiser Walnut Creek, describes one of her tasks while in Mississippi. She joined a team of doctors and traveled from house to house to determine the needs of residents in Pass Christian, Miss., a small town on the Gulf Coast that became an example in just how deadly the forces of nature can be. The storm's 140-plus mph winds created a massive tidal surge in Pass Christian that washed a wall of water up to 30 feet high. Piles of broken timber and splintered wood eight- to 10-feet high lined streets where homes once stood. Boats, miles from the shore, rested in yards and parking lots, casually left like parked cars. Others sat on rooftops. "We found a man whose mother was dead inside the house. He didn't know what to do, didn't know where to take her. We got him in touch with the National Guard," says McClung. Navigation was difficult. "The streets didn't exist. If we had to bring something to someone, we mapped our way by saying, 'OK, turn left at the house frame next to the blue wall.'" Kathleen Burke, an RN at UCSF Medical Center, and other nurses were asked to visit one home to assess an elderly woman in an- other town affected by the hurricane. "We went into this home and all of the sheetrock was torn down," Burke said. "The family was keeping their mother in a room that was intact, but she was very old and wouldn't eat or drink." The RNs coun- seled the family on how to help the woman regain her strength. Many RNs agreed that the emotional devastation and upheaval for the elderly would likely cause many more deaths at- tributable to Katrina in the months to come. SINGING RIVER'S SAD SONG RNs sent by CNA/NNOC to Singing River and Ocean Springs Hospital in Mississippi entered a scenario they did not foresee. "All of us thought we were going to be down here wearing bandanas going from cot to cot delivering emergency care," says Stephanie Smith, an RN at UCSF Medical Center. The RNs quickly realized that much of what was required was meeting basic needs. CNA nurses estimate 50 percent of Singing River Hospital staff's homes were destroyed and another 40 percent of staff homes sus- tained some damage. Another broken piece: childcare. Child- care centers were damaged or destroyed, and local churches previously providing childcare were commandeered to shelter evacuees. "If the staff here doesn't have childcare, they can't keep this hospital open," says Megan Miller, an RN in UCSF's Pediatric ICU. So CNA RNs became child- care providers. CNA RNs at Singing River and Ocean Springs Hospitals also took regular hospital shifts to relieve staff trying to reconstruct their lives. "People want to hear heroic stories, but what we're doing is what nurses do every day," said Faith Henson, an ICU RN with UCSF Medical Center. "We are meeting people's needs. Sometimes those needs are basic, but we're here to support these people. We're here to do whatever it takes, in whatever way necessary." Burke seconded that assessment when she talked about the tetanus shots required by the Center for Disease Control. "We did 1,200 shots in one day," said Burke. "People were so relieved that they could just come in and get the shot. They've had to stand in so many lines … banks have lines out the door, the ATMs are not running. People were just so grateful." McClung recalled, "One of our nurses was giving a tetanus shot and afterwards she gave the woman a long, hard hug. The woman dropped to her knees and cried. She said, 'That's the first time anyone has touched me since the hurricane happened.'" A Gift of Song–and Life At the much-celebrated wedding of two Katrina evacuees in the Houston Astro- dome, CNA RN Kortney Hyrchuk sang at the services. Hyrchuk, a professionally trained opera singer and neonatal nurse at UC Irvine Medical Center, gave much more than a beautifully rendered song. She saved a baby's life. Hyrchuk, quick to spread the praise, said it was "a real team effort and I believe we saved this baby's life." She described how an LVN and her son were checking on evacuees in the Astrodome when the son pointed to a listless baby. The infant did not react and was cold to the touch, the LVN discovered. She scooped up the baby and tried to stimulate her while run- ning to the Astrodome's medical station. Hyrchuk jumped into action, realigning the baby to clear her breathing, but got no re- sponse. Using a bulb syringe proved fruitless. An ambulance was called and Hyrchuk told the EMTs they needed to insert a na- sopharyngeal, a long tube that can be very invasive. The EMTs, who didn't get many calls for the procedure, had trouble. "I said, 'I'm a neonatal nurse, can I do that? I do it all the time,'" said Hyrchuk. She rode with the EMTs to the hospital and did several nasopharyngeal suctions on both sides. "By the time the baby got to the hospi- tal, she was screaming, wide awake and, as far as respiration, her oxygen and blood were 100 percent," said Hyrchuk. "I really think this is the reason I came on this trip. How likely would it be otherwise for a neonatal nurse to be in this situation?" Feature Story

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