Spring 2020
RISE TO THE
CHALLENGE
Spring 2020
RISE TO THE
CHALLENGE
Simply
Unprecedented
March was a cruel month. Without drastic public health measures, April would have been the cruelest.
The first case of the coronavirus in North Carolina was detected on March 3.
On March 11, UNCG officials, in accord with UNC System universities, canceled all in-person classes for the following week, giving faculty time to prepare online lessons. As of March 23, all classes were online. The spring sports seasons were ended. All performances, lectures, and games were canceled. Alumni Reunion weekend would be online-only, with big hugs replaced by heart emojis. And in a first for this campus, the May Commencement was postponed.
A global pandemic and UNCG’s mission
Our world has been forever changed. The outbreak of the coronavirus that initially seemed so distant has touched all of our lives in profound and personal ways. The first cases were reported in North Carolina in early March, and the steady spread has reached our community and nearly every part of our state. And through it all, UNCG perseveres, and maintains its focus on our mission: educating our students and preparing them to contribute to our society in meaningful ways.
We are in uncertain times and, in many ways, uncharted territory with the realities and required responses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts at UNCG have been swift and significant, and we’ve had to make decisions based on fast-changing and unpredictable circumstances.
Duty calls. During the current pandemic, nurses across the state and nation are serving long hours with limited supplies and protective wear. Dr. Ernest Grant ’93 MSN, ’15 PhD, president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), has a broad perspective, as he represents the nation’s 4.3 million registered nurses.
An expert in burn care, he oversaw the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center’s Outreach and Prevention Program for many years. After Sept. 11, 2001, he volunteered in New York, caring for patients injured in the attacks. And now there’s another cataclysm, one that we all are facing: the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak.
“It’s vitally important that we do everything we can to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19 and to reduce, not only the string of infections that are happening now, but also what might happen in the future,” he said in a March 30 interview. “Because, as more and more people contract it, it’s obviously going to prove quite a strain on the health care system as well.”
As ANA president, he is advocating for those on the front line to get the personal protective equipment they need. He is working with and encouraging government authorities to monitor supply chains to ensure that vital medical equipment goes where it is most needed. And through videos and social media, and through interviews with national news programs, he has spread the message: Follow your local and state directives about sheltering in place.
“I know it’s very difficult. I’m a bit frustrated, myself, with having to stay indoors most of the time, but we all must do our part,” he said.
Heart to Heart
Her dad’s taught her a lot. Now she’s teaching him a few things too.
Grit. Stamina. A great sense of humor. And the ability to check your emotions at the door. These are some of the characteristics that reveal themselves when getting to know Les and Sara Nichols, a father-daughter team currently making their way through the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at UNC Greensboro.
These also happen to be traits that define a successful health care professional able to withstand the trials of a hospital emergency ward. Les and Sara know this well. Outside of school, the father and daughter duo serve in the same emergency unit at High Point Medical Center, where they take what they learn in the classroom and apply it on the job, and vice-versa.
Les and Sara tackle job- and school-related problems by drawing upon their respective experience and skill sets. Les is able to bring his many years’ experience working in various fields and being a dad to the table, while Sara is able to bring her fresh perspective and right-brain sensibilities. “I know his strengths and weaknesses and he knows mine, so we can help each other out,” says Sara.
They are passionate about what they do, and they have each other’s backs – on the hospital floor as well as in classes, at clinicals, and during marathon study sessions for big exams.
Nursing Perspectives
UNCG has a proud nursing heritage. Its undergraduate bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program is rigorous, with an N.C. licensing “pass rate” to prove it: 93% of the Spartan students pass it on the first attempt. The program – with many first-generation or non-traditional students – is supportive, with a degree completion rate of 98%. And once they are done, they are in high demand, with an employment rate of 99%. They have the knowledge and skill needed in diverse health care settings.
These are unprecedented times, but this is what we signed up for when we became nurses. Our mission as nurses is to promote well-being and serve the health needs of our communities.
We asked Susan Safran ’77 and Jana Welch Wagenseller ’76, both former nurses who received their BSN from UNCG, about nursing and this pandemic. We also asked Dr. Robin Remsburg, dean of the School of Nursing, and Associate Dean Audrey Snyder, who has been point person for the nursing school’s coronavirus information outreach. Their insights are invaluable.
Grace Under Pressure
One UNCG alumna has become the image for all nurses during this wave of coronavirus.
Perhaps you’ve seen the meme on Reddit or Twitter? A nurse sporting sunglasses, mask, walkie-talkie, and an arm sleeve of animal tattoos, making her way with confidence as though in an epic movie battle scene.
It’s UNCG’s own Grace Cindric, 2016 graduate of the UNCG School of Nursing and one of many health care professionals on the front lines during this pandemic.
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'Together Again'
Alumna Emmylou Harris’ first performance on campus since the 60s was one for the ages.
The auditorium was packed. The Class of 1969 cheered their classmate from the front rows.
The upbeat “Here I Am” opened the show. She encored with the country standard “Together Again” and then the song she called the first great one she herself wrote, “Boulder to Birmingham.”
She had starred, along with Sandra Hopper (now Dr. Sandra Hopper Forman) ’66, ’71 MFA, in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” on that very stage 54 years earlier. Sandra was on hand for the concert.
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