Features

Major: Nursing. Minor in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Next: Applying to work in an emergency department or Intensive Care Unit.  

Scholarship: Lois and Ethel Leuchtag Nursing Scholarship Fund.

Nursing in Pandemic: Rigano has spent the past year experiencing all aspects of the COVID-19 health care fight. She became a student nurse assistant in an intensive care unit at the Wexner Medical Center in May 2020. During clinical rotations, she distributed vaccines and worked as a contract tracer.

Called to Nursing: “I wasn’t sure at first if I wanted to go into medical school or nursing but I found my path as I was going. I quickly found out nurses spend the majority of their time connecting with the patients, checking in on them, having conversations, making them comfortable. That’s the side I wanted to be on.”

Life in the ICU: “My start date to work in the ICU was in May, the brink of the peak of the pandemic. I was nervous but excited.

“The ICU I work in has 24 beds and I help take care of 12 of them. When I first started, 10 of those beds were filled with COVID patients. They’re on ventilators, heavily sedated, and they’ve got tubes and IV pumps running through them. I had never been in an ICU before so it was a scary sight.

“Obviously the nurses and doctors are doing the heavy lifting but I’ve seen the interactions and the stress placed on everyone around me. It’s exhausting and hard at times, but it has given me a new outlook on what nursing is and what it can be. It is special.”

Lessons Learned: “The experience has shaped my outlook on what nursing can be and how flexible you have to be. Each week something was changing, a protocol was being updated and you have to roll with each punch.

“[For example] in the beginning, there were no visitors allowed. Half my patients were on ventilators so they couldn’t even speak to you. Maybe they could use their hands and give some head nods but a lot of it was slow interactions and quiet working spaces. It highlighted how nurses kept patients aware and comfortable, especially during times when they didn’t have a support person.

“It was amazing being able to see the people I worked with tailor their approaches to give patients the best care and environment possible.”

Vaccine Delivery: “Part of my clinical rotation [in spring 2021] was being part of the vaccine administration for 80-85 year olds. Our group was in Springfield County in an old JCPenney because one of the biggest barriers to being able to give vaccines is having open space. Seeing the mass operation was exciting.

“The environment was so positive, with everyone kind of releasing the tension we have all been holding in. It was surreal being able to A) give a vaccine and B) be in that foreign space. It was extremely rewarding.”

A Powerful Vocation: “This year has been important to me to realize how big a role we can play as nurses. Being an outsider looking in as a student, and getting a big-picture view of what is happening, has been a full-circle experience. I’m able to explain to people what I’m seeing and how it relates to the pandemic. I’m grateful to see the impact the nurses I’m shadowing are having, and it’s rewarding to have been a part of reducing the impact of COVID and getting to a better place.”

Advice to Future Students: “The biggest thing I’ve learned is how important it is to take care of yourself. It doesn’t even have to be related to COVID; it could be mental health or just feeling stressed out. We’ve all gotten a taste of it. You have to take care of yourself, whether that means exercising, meditating or jotting things down in your journal. You can’t progress if you’re not healthy.”