国产传媒

Their efforts are not going unnoticed. Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles mayor, tweeted a photo of a woman participating in the vaccination efforts. The unidentified woman was tracked down thanks to help from Ryan Cavada 鈥�07 ADN, both an elementary school and Mount classmate of Jamie (Wells) Robledo BSN 鈥�08, a supervising clinic nurse for the COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center.

Robledo says that, as the largest county facility in Los Angeles, that they鈥檝e been able to vaccinate 30% of the county鈥檚 healthcare force and are currently providing second-round vaccines to that population, whether they鈥檙e in patient care or work within the facility. She doesn鈥檛 have an exact timeframe yet, but says that they鈥檙e getting close to vaccinating the first tier of the general population 鈥� those 75 and over or with chronic conditions 鈥� as dictated by state guidelines.

鈥淲ith COVID, everything鈥檚 ever changing,鈥� she says of trying to predict timing or exactly how the distribution will be organized. 鈥淚t can be hard, but we adapt, move on and try to help everyone as much as possible. We鈥檙e doing the best we can, day by day. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of excitement about the vaccine, but we do have staff who are hesitant to get vaccinated because of distrust of medicine or a distrust of government. Education is a huge piece. If the staff is sick, how are we going to serve other people who are sick? As a nurse, I believe in medicine. I believe in research and evidence-based practice. I got mine, so I鈥檓 ready to go.鈥�

Even student nurse Angela Bacon, one of the many who volunteered at TMMC, sounded like she initially had at least some reservations or uneasiness, but that giving the vaccine to all the staff, including the doctors and nurses, gave her the courage to get the vaccine too. 

Even when people are vaccinated, Robledo says it鈥檚 important to keep following all the protocols such as wearing masks, washing your hands frequently and maintaining distance in order to protect those who haven鈥檛 gotten the vaccine yet. 鈥淭he vaccine isn鈥檛 the end all, be all yet, until we reach herd immunity,鈥� she says, which won鈥檛 be until 75-80% of the entire population has either had COVID or has been vaccinated.

Robledo, who wrote, 鈥淭hank goodness for my GREAT nursing education from @msmu_la!!!鈥�  when she reposted the mayor鈥檚 tweet in her Instagram feed, says, 鈥淚 strongly believe that Mount Saint Mary鈥檚 has literally definitely helped with all my endeavors as a nurse.鈥� She added that she can tell when another nurse received her training at the Mount. 鈥淲e have a different ideal or perspective, high ethics, all those things. It鈥檚 so amazing.鈥�

Leah FitzGerald, PhD, FNP-BC and dean of nursing, is understandably proud of Mount student nurses past and present. 鈥湽�产传媒 nursing students and faculty are working alongside our academic partners learning firsthand the logistical challenges and coordination of the vaccine distribution network,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey are living the Roy Model and adapting to the needs of the community during these unprecedented times 鈥� adding to the uniqueness of a Mount nurse.鈥� Fitzgerald adds that the department is working with other clinical partners to provide similar services throughout the community.