Without these folks, testing and vaccines would not go nearly as smoothly at South Florida hospitals
A Christmas gift.
That’s what nurse practitioner Elena Santos called the vaccines that she along with fellow colleagues William Padron and Clarisa Avalos began administering in December 2020 at the COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Nicklaus Children’s Health System.
In addition to their regular job responsibilities, the trio volunteered to assist in vaccine coordination, staff training and administration at the clinic. Nicklaus began vaccinating its employees and most recently transitioned to vaccinating children and young adults, ages 16 to 21.
Medical staff throughout South Florida have been at the frontlines of battling COVID-19. The community has shown their appreciation for the staff at Nicklaus with thank you cards, pastelitos and other goodies.
“The patients tell us we are heroes,” Padron said. “We are not heroes. We are just doing our jobs. Someone has to do it.”
The vaccines came too late for Santos, whose 70-year-old Aunt Doris died from COVID-19 in August.
“I wish we had got the vaccine sooner so she could have gotten it,” said Santos, who had a second aunt die from the virus in Peru this month. “It has definitely hit very hard. My aunt spent six weeks in ICU before dying. People think the virus doesn’t exist. When it hits so close to home, it’s hard.”
But, the trio remain hopeful about the progress that has been made to fight the disease through the vaccines.
“It is coming full circle to be able to take care of those patients who had COVID at that time and now provide them with a means of protection,”
Avalos said.
Medical assistants Keashia Fluker, Andrea Jordan and Georgiris Garbutt were instrumental in helping to get the COVID-19 testing tent running at Cleveland Clinic Weston in March 2020.
“We found out that we were going to put up a tent that was going to open the next day,” said Holly Sandstrom, nurse manager at Cleveland Clinic. “They truly took ownership of the testing, were self directed working with autonomy, and displayed the definition of teamwork. They made accommodations with their personal and family life to meet the need.”
At Jackson Health System, Yolanda Youngblood, a clinical staff nurse in the emergency department, volunteered to help patients get tested for COVID-19 at Jackson’s outdoor tent last year. Youngblood, a wife and mother, came in early, stayed late and picked up extra shifts to help with the volume of patients being tested.
“Most people were afraid [to work in the tent] because nurses were actually dying at the time,” said Youngblood, who never contracted the virus. “My biggest fear was going home and taking it to my family. At the same time, family members are saying you should quit your job because people are dying.
But, who is going to do the job if all the nurses back away?”
Youngblood’s attitude inspired the patients and staff, said Monica Ramage, director of nursing for emergency Ssrvices at Jackson Memorial.
“She is one of our bravest nurses and makes huge sacrifices just to help,” Ramage said. “She is kind, compassionate and goes above and beyond. She advocates for her patients like no other. She truly gives her heart and soul in all that she does.”
Karenine Chery, a registered nurse at the pediatric emergency unit at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Broward County, also jumped to help with outdoor COVID-19 testing.
“There was such a great need in the community with all the hysteria,” said Chery, a nearly 30-year nursing veteran. “We didn’t know much of anything. COVID was new to everyone. It was good to have the opportunity to be on the frontlines to help the community be put at ease with their status.”
Chery volunteered to work six weeks on the night shift when the unit was short staffed during the pandemic, said Lussette Dantinor, director of emergency services at Joe DiMaggio. Chery is also a certified Creole interpreter for patients and mentors new nurses. She also continues to volunteer to conduct outdoor COVID testing during her free time a couple of days a week.
“She is so selfless and always has a positive attitude,” Dantinor said. “We didn’t know what to expect from COVID. It was a really hard time. compassion for patients is amazing and working beside them made me a better therapist. It was a dream and an honor to work with each of them.
And of course, I’m grateful to Sean, who supported this idea from the beginning and is there when I come home every night. He keeps me laughing and helps me stay sane.
I wonder what the history books will say of this horrible time. All have been affected in some way, be it through a loss of a job, a dream, or a loved one.
I wonder how we’ll
We needed a person like her, with her leadership to get the staff through and she did that.” teach our lessons from this to future generations. What will we keep to remember?
I know that those I worked with will be able to reflect on the sweat, tears, PPE, frustrations, and loss.
But I also hope they remember the singing and the dancing.
A version of this story was published previously in Neighbors as part of Miami Stories. For information on Miami Stories, visit www.historymiami.org/ miamistories.