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<\/a><\/p>\nKailey is also a caregiver at home of sorts, being a mother to a young son, and a wife to a combat Marine Corps Veteran. \u201cThere is no place I\u2019d rather pour my efforts into than here. The trials of the pandemic only fueled my passion, knowing I was needed exactly where I was,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In late 2020, Mann-Grandstaff VAMC expanded its mission by welcoming nearly 50 COVID-positive Veteran patients and in some cases even their spouses, for admission into the medical center\u2019s isolated COVID-19 unit during the pandemic. An outbreak at the State Veterans Home in Spokane prompted VA leadership to reconfigure the facility\u2019s Community Living Center (CLC) into a COVID unit and moving the existing inpatients from the CLC and Hospice units into the main hospital building for several months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe truly leaned on each other through the long days and nights of work under stressful conditions. My coworkers became like family. We shared our fears, our struggles, and ultimately our successes while caring for Veterans side by side,\u201d she smiled.<\/p>\n
The emotions from those long and quite nights still run deep. \u201cA lot of us had the added pressure of kids unable to go to school and having to oversee academics for them at home between shifts.\u201d During the pandemic, she and most physicians and nurses often found themselves isolating at home \u2013 because of the uncertainty over the spread of the coronavirus at the time.
\nA look back in time reveals an inside look at Kailey\u2019s emotional state during the pandemic that weighed so heavily on so many. Kailey submitted this for the VA employee\/volunteer newsletter during the height of the pandemic:<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine this: the heavy hearts of medical staff holding together a nation. Imagine being told in a week that your whole world will change. Being told to suit up in uncomfortable gear\/12-hours a day to face an invisible foe you know nearly nothing about, and possibly say goodbye to your loved ones for who knows how long\u2026 feeling like a ticking time bomb of infection. Imagine your heart breaking when another one of your patients doesn\u2019t make it, being unable to grieve, only push on\u2014so another life doesn\u2019t end the same way [but the hurt\/pain] catches up to you. You see, politics stop at our hospital doors. There is no race, left or right, sheep or wolf. There are simply hurting people that need us beside them, exhausting our own bodies, hearts, and minds \u2014so they can pull out of a dark place. Please look behind the mask into the tired eyes of the next medical professional you see. Try to be a light. Wave. Thank them and ask them how they\u2019re doing? We are picking up the pieces of a broken nation and healing the hurt with a lot of medical gear, expertise, and even more… compassion and love.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Each step during Kailey\u2019s journey\u2026 was aided in part, by her coworkers and mentors whom she made a personal connection with. Christie has seen many opportunities come her way. She credits VA for the opportunity to care for Veterans. And she credits her 29-years with the Army Reserves for helping expand her nursing knowledge. Togeth<\/p>\n
\nOne such nurse who worked directly with Kailey pre-pandemic and now again, years later is Christie Fields\u2026 a Veteran herself, and like Kailey, a devoted mother and wife. Both are adventurous with their families and have always called the Pacific Northwest their home.<\/p>\n