Nursing grads discuss starting work amid Covid-19

As the pandemic continues and the summer months approach, nursing students are graduating from schools everywhere. As they prepare to take the nursing licensure exam, many are both fearful and excited as they look forward to the next steps of applying to the nursing job of their dreams.

Nassau Community College recently held a graduation ceremony for nursing students on May 17. Many students said they feel relieved to be graduating, however, emotions have been running high for them lately.

“I think a lot of nursing graduates feel a little nervous to face the pandemic as health professionals, but we had good professors that instilled in us great skills that we can use,” said life-long Valley Stream resident, Danielle Infantino, 27, who recently graduated with an associate degree in nursing from Nassau Community College on May 17. “Now that I graduated, I hope to get a job as a labor and delivery nurse working in the hospital and eventually, I hope to become a nurse for the military.” 

For as far back as Infantino said she can remember, she has dreamed of becoming a nurse. Throughout her earlier years of life, she said her father played a pivotal role in encouraging her to eventually pursue her nursing education. After undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, Infantino’s father died in 2014, due to complications from cancer. 

“My main goal is to make my dad proud because he was always very excited about my early passion for nursing,” she said. 

At Nassau Community College, Infantino had been enrolled in a dual associate and bachelor’s degree program affiliated with Empire State College. She said she is glad she has finished the first part of the program and received her associate degree from Nassau Community College. For the next 12 months, she will continue taking classes for the dual program at Empire State College, and by the end of the year she will receive her bachelor’s degree in nursing. 

Infantino said she hopes to pass the nursing licensure exam at the end of June in order to earn her nursing license. She said she will start applying to different nursing positions for labor and delivery hospital units soon.

In the past, Infantino has worked in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as a technician. She said on many occasions, she would witness sick people take their last breath. However, she said, if she works as a nurse in the labor and delivery hospital unit, she will be able to see many take their first breath. 

“I’m very excited to get out there and start helping bring life into the world,” she said. “I’ll never forget when my dad was in hospice with cancer, and a nurse got me and my family lunch. I hope I can be a nurse like that who goes above and beyond for others.” 

In the same way that Infantino is nervous and excited for her career in nursing, other nursing students, from Nassau Community College, said they are experiencing mixed emotions about going into the field of nursing during a global pandemic. 

Jamaica Queens resident, Marlen Moreira, 35, who graduated from Nassau Community College with an associate degree in nursing said she plans on taking the nursing licensure exam soon. She said she hopes to work as a psychiatric nurse in a group home. 

In the past, Moreira said her work as a supervisor helped her gain valuable experience working with people who have mental disabilities, such as, multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia and developmental conditions, such as, autism. She said the supervisor position inspired her to want to become a psychiatric nurse. 

Moreira said after graduating from Nassau Community College, she recently started classes at Empire State College for the dual degree to work towards receiving her bachelor’s degree in nursing within the next year. 

“It feels great to be a graduate because I’ve finally reached my goal,” she said. “I am nervous about working in close proximity with people as a nurse because of the pandemic … I am a high risk person.” 

Moreira said she has a compromised immune system because she received a kidney transplant in 2019, and if she contracts Covid-19 it could possibly be more dangerous. She takes immunosuppressant medications every day because of the transplant and she said she plans to make sure to take extra safety precautions while working as a nurse. 

Moreira said she predicts the hardest part about being a psychiatric nurse will be having the responsibility of helping to make sure patients get better. 

“I know that making sure I thoroughly read through patient charts and follow proper protocols will be important,” she said. “It is a bit scary going into this field during a pandemic and because people’s well-being will be in my hands, but, I know many places have precautions in place to keep nurses safe.” 

Another Nassau Community College nursing graduate and Inwood resident, Lashauna Jennings, 39, said after she takes the nursing licensure exam, she hopes to work at an outpatient dialysis center as a dialysis registered nurse. She is currently considering applying to different nursing programs to aim for her bachelor’s degree in nursing. 

“It’s a little scary going into nursing because you know what to expect, but I have a lot of hope that things will get better with the vaccine,” she said. “I’m hopeful that even if I am scared to go into work sometimes as a nurse, that I will be able to put my fears aside because there are people that need help.” 

After working at Mount Sinai Hospital and for a home care agency in the recent past, Jennings said she witnessed many patients on ventilators suffering from Covid-19. She also worked at Winthrop hospital and Lenora Hospital in Brooklyn helping with Covid-19 relief. The hardest part, she said, was seeing people dying who were unable to see their families because of a lack of open visitation, due to the pandemic.

“It’s scary, but ultimately I do think I will be well prepared for my career in nursing because I’ve seen a lot from my experiences and I’ve dealt with a lot in this pandemic during my clinical classes,” she said. “I plan to use all the same tactics and tools that I’ve learned to deal with the trauma that I know I will see as a nurse.” 

Jennings said she looks forward to forming bonds with patients as a nurse. She said her long-term goal and dream is to start a multidisciplinary community center to service the public and educate people about how to stay out of the hospital. 

“I want to see people stay on top of their health,” she said. “My main long term goal in life is to keep people out                                  of the hospital.”