Camrie Werning, a 27-year-old intensive care nurse at CHI St. Elizabeth, finds herself working in the most unique of times.
She's been a nurse for four years, and at St. Elizabeth for less than a year of that time, and could not have anticipated the out-of-the-ordinary experience of caring for people with an illness so unpredictable from patient to patient, and for which families and friends are absent from the room.
"I just think there's been an increased importance on taking care of both the mind and body," Werning said. "There's really an importance of providing holistic care right now, because we're often these people's only point of contact."
Without family at the hospital to help out with small things, teamwork and bonding among the staff has increased even more, she said.
The administration of CHI Health in Lincoln knows how hard it is being a health care provider in normal circumstances, but a deadly virus has added to that.
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So the hospitals — St. Elizabeth and Nebraska Heart — recognized those workers with yard signs at the homes of more than 1,500 in Lincoln and beyond. They say: "HERO LIVES HERE," in bright colors.
There has been an outpouring of appreciation from members of the Lincoln community, said Derek Vance, president of St. Elizabeth and Nebraska Heart. They have given meals and other food, supplies and donations of all kinds.
Some of his favorites have been the letters and cards, including kids' drawings of super heroes on their messages to nurses.
Working at this time is daunting, and medical personnel are putting themselves in harm's way, Vance said.
"It's asking a lot of people to come every day, day-after-day, and take care of these patients, or maybe take care of the people who take care of the patients," he said.
Administrators talked about what they could do that would be extra meaningful to people who go to work selflessly for the benefit of the community. They came up with the idea of the signs.
"I figured it would be received positively, but it's been beyond my expectations," he said.
Werning, he said, is a good example of those workers who have a positive attitude in treating the very sickest of the COVID-19 patients, many of them on ventilators.
"It's a special calling, what they do," Vance said.
But there are many examples, he said, of people who are caring for these patients: respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, housekeepers, lab technicians, food service workers.
"So many hands that come together to make it all work," he said.
And they all got a sign of appreciation.
Even the 30 to 60 administrators, managers and directors who drove around Lincoln and nearby communities putting up the signs got a boost from it.
Shannon George, CHI Health director of quality and safety, texted Vance this message: "Thank you! This has to be one of my most favorite days in my career."
As of Wednesday morning, Vance had put up 50 to 60 signs himself.
"I ended as the sun was going down last night ... putting up a sign in Firth, about 20 miles south. This morning, as the sun's coming up, I'm putting up a bunch of signs in Bennet," he said.
Nebraska Heart nurse Hope Crom, 25, a clinical educator for nurses and certified nursing assistants, and an intensive care trainer, got her sign in Palmyra on Tuesday.
"I figured since I was all the way out in Palmyra that maybe I'd get skipped, but I did not," Crom said. "We were all thought of, which was perfect."
Nebraska Heart, she said, is prepared for any COVID-19 patients it might get. Some of those patients have heart complications, or they might interpret shortness of breath or chest tightness with a heart attack and walk into the hospital to be checked out.
The appreciation signs showed that the CHI Health leadership cares for the staff, as well as the patients, Crom said.
"It truly does humble somebody to see that sign out there, because in health care we always say, 'Oh, no, we don't deserve the praise. It's our job. ... That's what I get paid to do,'" she said.
Werning said the coronavirus experience has revealed for her the integrity of the organization as a whole and especially the people with whom she is working.
They show up, humbled and honored to be in positions to serve such a high need in the community, she said.
Families have shown medical personnel a lot of grace and patience, she said. Nurses are helping families with Zoom conversation, FaceTime and other updates by phone.
"I can honestly say that there has been an increased establishment of trust between nurse and patient through this experience because ... this is a unique situation and it's kind of emphasized that even more," she said.