22 MAY 6, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Oksana Galivova, clinical nurse manager, Med/Surg Unit Jamaica Hospital, and John Hartin, a nurse at Flushing Hospital.
Photos courtesy of Galivova and Hartin
Two Queens nurses share insight on providing
critical care during the COVID-19 pandemic
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
When Oksana Galivova isn’t at
Jamaica Hospital taking care
of sick patients and leading
her team of nurses to provide the best
quality care, she dedicates her time and
love to her family who gave her support
throughout her career as a nurse, keeping
her strong and motivated.
Galivova, who immigrated from Russia
to the U.S. in 1995 and resides in Rego
Park, comes from a family with a broad
history of healthcare professionals in
the medical fi eld who inspired her to
become a nurse, she said.
“When I was a little girl, I remember
sitting at a dinner table and listening
to them talk about patients they have
seen and the impact they had on them
for them to get better,” said Galivova, a
clinical nurse manager for the medicalsurgical
unit at Jamaica Hospital.
Galivova started her nursing career
in Russia and when she came to the
U.S., she attended the Hunter-Bellevue
School of Nursing at Hunter College,
where she obtained a bachelor of arts
degree and a master of arts degree in
nursing. She joined Jamaica Hospital
in 2000 working in the telemetry unit
as a staff nurse and was then promoted
to assistant head nurse, where her passion
became stronger in mentoring and
teaching new nurses. In 2010, Galivova
was promoted to clinical nurse manager
of the medical-surgical unit.
“This has been an amazing experience
to be a role model for newly hired
nursing staff to be at a patient’s bedside,”
Galivova said. “I love to advocate, comfort
them, and to make sure they get the
best quality care. When I see my nurses
doing the best job ever, and coming to
me saying, ‘I learned this from you’ or
‘This is the best experience working
with you Oksana’ that makes me very
happy.’”
Galivova has always loved helping
and taking care of people, especially
when they’re sick, she said. In her 21-
year career as a nurse, she strives to
go above and beyond in her profession
caring for patients the way she would
want her family members to be cared
for.
“When patients go home and they
look at your eyes and say ‘thank you’
when they get better, and when their
families are reaching out to you and
sending cards, I feel like my job has
been accomplished when I see those
things,” Galivova said.
Galivova is honored to lead a team
of nurses, she said, admiring their sacrifi
ces each and every day, especially
during the COVID-19 pandemic, which
has changed the face of her career.
As one of her patients was deteriorating
from the coronavirus, Galivova
recalled speaking to his mother over
the phone providing updates, but
unfortunately, he did not make it, she
said.
“One of the hardest things was to
speak to his mom aft er he died. This
was one of the most diffi cult times
when families weren’t able to be at the
patient’s bedside and see what they’re
going through,” Galivova said.
As Galivova reflects on the past
year that was fi lled with challenges,
heartache and lost lives, she remains
hopeful that that pandemic will be over
one day.
“Everyday I come to work and I see
our census is dropping — we have 39
bed units and 11 patients are in the
ward,” Galivova said. “It makes me
feel so good and hopeful that we are
discharging them, and educating them
about proper hygiene and making sure
they go home with oxygen, if needed.”
Like Galivova, John Hartin, a nurse at
Flushing Hospital for the past 34 and a
half years, expressed appreciation for
his team helping to save lives during the
pandemic that ravaged the borough.
“I was never sick, thank God. I still
think back and say to my coworkers,
considering what we worked through,
we survived,” Hartin said. “If it weren’t
for teamwork, we might not have been
where we are today.”
A Queens native, Hartin was born
and raised in Bellerose. He began working
as a nurses aide in the critical care
unit (ICU) at the former Deepdale Hospital
in Little Neck, before he attended
Queensborough Community College
and obtained an associates degree in
nursing.
“Nursing has always been a great career
for me. There are so many avenues
you can work in and I love it,” said Hartin,
whose wife and daughter are also
medical professionals. “I would never
discourage anyone from not going into
it. If you like taking care of people and
meeting people, that’s the way to go.”
Upon graduating from QCC, Hartin
continued working in the ICU taking
on Flushing Hospital’s critical care
patients — whether they came from
the emergency room or fl oor.
“We’ve seen it all the time, especially
with COVID. You can be talking to
someone at one minute, and the next
minute they are in a diff erent place,
unstable,” Hartin said. “People do well,
and, sometimes, they don’t do well.”
At the height of the pandemic, Hartin
and his team didn’t know what they
were dealing with, he said.
“A lot of the times we didn’t get breaks
— there was no leaving the bedside.
People were just so sick, and patient
care comes fi rst,” Hartin said.
According to Hartin, there are both
good and bad outcomes in the ER.While
caring for a coronavirus patient on a
respirator, Hartin held her hand, reassuring
her they will do everything they
can.
“I came back a few days later and she
was gone,” Hartin said. “I took care of
a lot of COVID patients — both young
and old — holding hands and making
eye contact, and days later they’re
gone. COVID was sad and it was a very
vulnerable disease,” Hartin said.
Looking ahead, as people continue to
get vaccinated pushing back against the
virus, Hartin said people still need to
be smart and safe, especially if they’re
going through a crowded area.
“We were on the front lines, but you
also had the fi re department and police
department, everyone who came in
contact with the public and played a
role,” Hartin said. “Everyone was able
to step up and get where we are today.”
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