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QUEENS WEEKLY, MAY 24, 2020
Queensborough Community College nursing
students comfort local COVID-19 patients
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Two Queensborough
Community College nursing
students are helping
to care for seniors at a
Queens nursing home
and rehabilitation center
amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the past month,
Kristen Rodriguez and
Adam Kern, both in their
30s, have dedicated their
time to serve on the front
line of the pandemic at the
Parker Jewish Institute
in New Hyde Park, where
there have been reported
cases of COVID-19-related
deaths.
Prior to her academic
career at Queensborough,
Rodriguez, a resident of
Whitestone, worked as
a medical administrator
for eight years at the
Northwell Health Division
for Surigcal Onocology
in New Hyde Park. Every
Saturday, Rodriguez
works an eight-hour shift
at the center, where her
responsibilities include
conducting vital signs,
feeding and cleaning the
patients, and helping the
nurses with other tasks.
“I feel good leaving
there making a difference
to some people,” said Rodriguez,
who completed
her clinical placement at
the nursing home last semester.
“I put in a lady’s
earring the other day
and she was so thankful.
It sounds minimal but to
that lady it’s everything.
I feel like I did something
good for her whether it’s
tiny.”
For the most part, Rodriguez
said, she tries to
make the residents laugh.
“It’s just a lot. It does
make you appreciate what
you have,” Rodriguez
said. “It’s sad because
they can’t go anywhere,
or see anyone and they
get lonely. When depression
kicks in, that can deteriorate
it.”
Although she was
quite nervous about stepping
into the role of a
caretaker at the nursing
home, Rodriguez said the
experience has been “eyeopening.”
As for her family,
she said, they were
quite reluctant but decided
to let her leave home.
“There are a lot of emotions,
then and now. My
12-year-old son, my boyfriend
and my parents did
not want me to go at first.
They said, ‘absolutely
not,’ but we came to the
realization that nurses
can’t pick and choose who
to help and who to avoid.
Everyone is equal and
they asked me, ‘If you’re
not going to help them,
who will?”’ Rodriguez
said.
Meanwhile, Kern, of
Oakland Gardens, an experienced
caregiver for
people with disabilities
in Nassau County prior to
his enrollment at Queensborough,
works with staff
at Parker who cares for
residents with dementia.
Kern’s wife, who cares
for developmentally disabled
people on Long Island
and studies at the
CUNY School of Law, also
had reservations.
“This last month, she
has personally known
about 25 to 30 people who
have died — not all COVID
though. Everyone’s
scared. But the education
at and preparation from
Queensborough is good,”
Kern said. “We have been
trained very well by staff
and Parker, too, has been
wonderful.”
According to Kern,
many COVID-19 cases
have swept through his
floor. Since family members
cannot always be
with their loved ones,
Kern said he tries to be
family to the resident.
“They’re scared and
I am able to let families
know that someone was
with their loved one,
that they were not alone,
that they were comfortable
and that everything
was done for them,” said
Kern, having held the
hand of patients, including
a 99-year-old woman,
comforting them as they
passed on.
Although it’s been sad,
Kern said, it has been a
remarkable educational
opportunity, obtaining
access that no first-year
nursing student typically
experiences to learn and
observe.
Michael Rosenblut,
president and CEO of
Parker Jewish Institute,
said he is thankful for the
students’ participation.
“We appreciate the
response from Queensborough
students who are
supporting the care of our
patients and residents,”
Rosenblut said.
According to Dr. Colleen
Ariola, senior vice
president of Patient Care
Services at Parker, the
student nurses are “capable,
committed and undaunted.”
“They bring their enthusiasm
to learn, support
and collaborate with
our frontline health heroes
— we are so grateful
for their positive energy,”
Ariola said.
Upon completion of
their Queensborough
studies next year, Kern
and Rodriguez will earn
RN qualifications and enroll
at York College and
CUNY’s School of Professional
Studies, respectively,
to complete their
Bachelor of Nursing degrees
under CUNY’s Dual
Joint Degree programs.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at
(718) 260–4526.
Queensborough Community College nursing students Kristen Rodriguez and Adam Kern, who have been caring for seniors at
The Parker Jewish Institute in New Hyde Park during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of Queensborough Community College
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