24 MAY 7, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
NATIONAL NURSES WEEK
Schneps Media celebrates
National Nurses Week
The nation pauses every May to celebrate National
Nurses Week and honor the army of men and
women at medical centers across the country who
play a critical role in comforting and saving the lives of
countless patients.
But this year’s celebration falls amid the coronavirus
pandemic that has already claimed more than 68,000
American lives — including, sadly, a tragic number of
nurses on the frontlines who contracted the illness
themselves while tending to the sick.
The New York State Nurses Association is curating
a memorial page on their website for nurses across the
Empire State who have succumbed to COVID-19. They
off er hints of the dedication, the care and love each
provided to their patients and colleagues throughout
their vocation.
Ernesto “Audie” DeLeon served as a Bellevue Hospital
nurse in Manhattan for 30 years but died of COVID-19
on April 13.
“During his tenure, he was an incredible inspiration
and a mentor to hundreds of nurses, doctors and other
clinical staff . He was an immensely kind soul with a
humble demeanor,” said Claire Martinez, one of his
colleagues.
Mary Ellen Porter, the nurse manager at Richmond
University Medical Center who died of coronavirus
on April 9, “was always there for her staff ,” said fellow
nurse Diane Donaghy. “In the good times, the bad times,
when the fl oors got crazy, she was quick to put on scrubs
and help them when needed.”
Jacqueline Rowe, a Bellevue Hospital nurse who died
on April 15, was “an amazing colleague and friend,” one
colleague wrote. Theresa Lococo, a pediatric nurse at
Kings County Medical Center who died on March 28,
“always had the biggest smile, no matter how busy the
pediatric units were,” wrote a co-worker.
These are just glimpses into the dedicated lives of
these nurses who gave “their last measure of devotion”
by caring for New Yorkers suff ering the worst
eff ects of a disease for which a cure or vaccine is not
yet available.
But thousands more nurses are on duty at this very
moment in medical facilities across the country, putting
their own lives on the line while working hard alongside
physicians, lab technicians and other professionals
to save as many people as possible.
Their eff orts have not gone unnoticed by the public
— whether it’s through the nightly applause at 7 p.m. for
healthcare workers or organizations donating food and
other supplies to emergency rooms across the city.
For many nurses, however, these gestures of gratitude
must also be backed up with additional support so
they can protect themselves and their own families.
The NYSNA has gone to court seeking increased
access to N95 masks and protective personal equipment
(PPE) to shield nurses and other professionals from
infection. On Tuesday, the City Council heard arguments
over legislation to create an “Essential Workers
Bill of Rights,” potentially opening the door for nurses
to receive additional pay for their eff orts to stop this
contagious disease.
In reality, long before coronavirus arrived at our
doorstep, these nurses have deserved greater protection,
compensation and recognition for the care they
provide their patients every day. They work long shift s
and are on their feet most of their day shuttling between
multiple patients, comforting them while administering
tests and medication.
Maternity nurses guide new mothers through the
painful, yet miraculous process of childbirth. Emergency
nurses console the victims of tragedy while also
scrambling with doctors to save the victims. Nurses
in oncology wards help cancer patients cope with the
illness they’re battling. Palliative care nurses off er
comfort and solace not just to terminal patients in their
fi nal days, but also their families.
The pandemic has brought forth a new awareness
about the incredible work of our nurses, who take
the oath Florence Nightingale wrote to “maintain and
elevate the standard of their profession,” to be loyal
to their duties and be “devoted towards the welfare of
those committed to their care.”
We thank and honor all nurses for their service, and
we hope our readers will do the same.
Our heroes, now
more than ever
/WWW.QNS.COM
