Diamond State Chapter Members Are "All In" - Megan Smakulski

Megan Smakulski  

Megan Smakulski, MSN, MBA, RN, PCCN

When I heard 2020 was the Year of the Nurse, I never could have imagined what it would bring our way. COVID-19 took the world by storm and wreaked havoc wherever it went. Managing a combined transitional/intensive care unit is challenging and rewarding in so many ways. In March of 2020, the challenges began to outweigh the rewards. We housed the first COVID positive patient in our healthcare system and anxiety was high on many levels. The fear of the unknown had set in and COVID became a reality for my staff and I. Our volume of COVID cases increased frequently and the changes around policy and procedure were endless. I had a choice to make for myself as a leader. I could be scared and sink, or I could be courageous for myself and my team and rise up. I chose to rise.

I made it a point to ensure my staff felt fully supported during the pandemic. My assistant nurse managers and I adjusted our schedules to ensure that the unit had leadership presence 24/7. My CNS and nurse educator were helping staff don and doff PPE correctly and were there to help answer the countless questions that arose in the care of this patient population. Staff expressed their concerns over policy changes, and I did my best to help them see why they were safe at work and why the changes were being instituted. I experienced a nurse walk off the job during the pandemic, which lead to a one-sided article being published online that highlighted many inaccuracies of my healthcare system. It was a shot to the gut and something I needed to address with my staff. I allowed them to express themselves about their thoughts and feelings surrounding that article and was open to any suggestions they had for our unit. I had to uptrain stepdown nurses to care for our ever-growing ICU patient population and make sure staff were doing ok throughout all of this. It was, and still is to a degree, a whirlwind of emotions and learning.

My team delivered incredible care to a patient population they knew very little about. They were open to changes and were innovative in how they were delivering care. They looked out for each other and ensured everyone on the team was hanging in there throughout all of this. They inspire me and make me proud to be their leader.

To me, being “all in” means being present and in the moment. It means being scared and overcoming your fears. It means going above and beyond what is asked of you because it is the right thing to do. It’s about remembering that the little things in life are the big things and to never take anything for granted. The Year of the Nurse has been our moment to show the world that we are the heroes of healthcare.