Cambria Heights resident talks experience as
nurse practitioner and educator during COVID-19
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Ever since she could remember,
Cambria Heights resident
Junie White has wanted
to help others and saw herself
as a “people person.”
For the past three years,
White — who started off as a
registered nurse in 2006 and
eventually became a nurse
practitioner in 2012 — has
worked at the St. Paul’s School
of Nursing in Rego Park, as
a faculty member teaching
new nurses the ins and outs
of medical, surgical, nursing
and clinicals.
But when the pandemic
started to rapidly spread
across New York City, White
had to learn how to navigate
working during the “new normal”
while simultaneously
teaching young nurses who
were getting ready to enter the
workforce.
She also recalled her
own experience contracting
COVID-19 in December 2020,
making her fearful of passing
the virus along to her family,
especially her grandchildren.
“My major concern was
that my children and grandchildren
would be harmed
— that was my greatest fear.
That’s why I opened up to
my students that once you
choose a path in life and you
make it the path you choose
because of what you love, you
have nothing to fear but fear
itself,” White said.
After she recovered, White
immediately returned to
work. The educator said that
sharing her story with students
helped to reassure them
that they were equipped with
the skills to work through
COVID-19.
“This is why I reassure
them: because I have been
there,” White said. “You are
going to be faced with challenges
like this. We don’t
know if we might not face
something else like COVID-
19 or even worse. But because
TIMESLEDGER | Q 26 NS.COM | MAY 7-MAY 13, 2021
you are a nurse and you are
trained as a nurse, these are
some of the things that you
can cloud your mind with.
Sometimes help doesn’t mean
you’re going there to give patients
an injection or hang
an IV. Sometimes help means
that you’re going to hold their
hands and reassure them that
this is what we’re going to do
and this will help.”
Over the past year, White
has learned that knowledge is
one of the best tools to have,
whether she’s speaking to her
students or patients. She’s interacted
with and observed
countless individuals who
lived in fear during the pandemic
and credited some of
the fear to a lack of education.
“As health care providers,
we can show some empathy
and care for these people who
are concerned about what
is going to happen to them,”
she said. “What we can do is
educate them on how they can
take care of themselves and
Photo courtesy of St. Paul’s School of Nursing
how to protect themselves and
their family.”
In addition to teaching and
working as a nurse practitioner,
White began volunteering
during the weekends. During
the height of the pandemic, she
heard that Governor Cuomo
was calling on retired nurses
and other volunteers to work
at makeshift clinics in underserved
areas.
“They sent information,
so I filled out the form and
said I’ll volunteer for a day
and that’s when I got started,”
White said.
Her intention was to volunteer
for one day but she realized
that she could continue her
full-time job while volunteering
on the weekends. Many of
the patients she serves at these
clinics are elderly, homeless,
HIV/AIDS-positive or battle
substance abuse.
White said that she does
not see herself as a “health
care hero” or “inspiration,”
but rather as a person who is
willing to help those in need.
“I’m a person who will
help in a time of need as much
as I can within my capacity. It
doesn’t matter who or where or
what — as long as is within my
capacity to help, I can help.”
In her spare time, White
cares for her grandchildren
and goes to church, where she
and a team work to educate the
community about health care.
“I found a little team at
church where I do annual
health fair. We invite the community
to come in and we give
them health care education,”
she said. “I’m big on education
because I think a lot the illness
in society is because people are
not educated enough on how
their body works and what to
do. Sometimes on the primary
level you can prevent a lot of illness
just through education.”
Reach reporter Jenna Bagcal
by e-mail at jbagcal@s
chnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260-2583.
NATIONAL NURSES WEEK
/NS.COM
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