Athletes adjust as first-year nurses in COVID pandemic
Belmont volleyball players Maggie Mullins and Tori Simmons shifted into position on the court as soon as the ball took flight.
It was their senior season in the fall of 2018, when their communication and instincts merged so well that that they knew exactly where their teammates needed them to be.
They had no idea that teamwork was preparing them to work as nurses during the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is definitely not how I expected my first year of nursing to be,” said Mullins, a first-year intensive care nurse at
Saint Thomas West Hospital. “There's already a learning curve in year one, and then a pandemic gets thrown in.
“You learn to work together and adjust to things and communicate and work a lot. So it's like sports.”
Simmons, Mullins' former college roommate, is a first-year neonatal nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her overnight shifts have resembled the grind of Belmont volleyball practices, school work and nursing clinicals.
“You may be tired, but you have no choice but to keep going,” Simmons said. “You have to push through, just like you did as an athlete.”
‘What did I expect? Well, not this’
It’s a unique experience for recent Division I athletes who started caring for coronavirus patients not long after starting their nursing careers. Teamwork, communication and stress management have helped them transition.
Former Tennessee Tech soccer player Courtney Manning, now a first-year ICU nurse at VUMC, said the pandemic changed any preconceived notions she had for her rookie year in nursing.
“What did I expect? Well, not this,” Manning said with a laugh. “I was ready for the challenge. I thought I would be trying to get the hang of being an ICU nurse, but not right in the middle of something this big.”
Manning, a former Franklin Road Academy standout, was a starting midfielder in her senior season in 2018 at Tennessee Tech. She graduated in May 2019 and is adjusting to new coronavirus care guidelines while being quarantined in a Holiday Inn, which is charging a $10 nightly rate for VUMC employees on the front lines of the pandemic.
“We wear a ton of (personal protection equipment) gear now, which is obviously new in the pandemic,” Manning said. “But our hospital has so many resources that I feel more protected at work than in public.”
‘I’m not the only one saving lives’
The new normal for these recent college athletes would have seemed unthinkable a year ago. But their sports background has helped in trial-by-fire nursing.
“Athletics teaches you to rely on the people around you. I wasn’t the only one on the volleyball court, and I’m not the only one saving lives now,” said Mullins, who led Father Ryan to the 2014 state championship match.
Caring for coronavirus patients has altered many practices taught to nursing students. A few months ago, Mullins would stop by patients’ rooms routinely. Now her visits are longer and less frequent because so much single-use PPE is needed for each interaction with a patient.
Simmons said playing Division I athletics taught her how to share responsibilities with co-workers.
“Our babies have never been to the outside world,” Simmons said. “The only way they could get (coronavirus) is if someone brings it into the hospital. That makes us their line of defense, so we do everything we can to prevent (infection).
“We are all that our little babies have.”
‘Take on the role that helps the team’ Sports taught the first-year nurses to adjust to unforeseen circumstances. Former Lipscomb volleyball player Jenny Phelan’s playing career was re-routed by two ACL tears.
But that experience also pushed her toward the medical field. She’s been an emergency room nurse at Christ Medical Center in Chicago for the past 16 months.
“The ER is full of hectic situations and a daily grind,” Phelan said. “Playing college sports helped me know how to stay calm.”
When the pandemic hit, Phelan volunteered to move from pediatric care to adults, where she helps coronavirus patients.
“If you’ve played on a team before, you know that you don’t have to love your role,” Phelan said. “You have to take on the role that helps the team get through this.”
Reach Adam Sparks at asparks@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Adamsparks.