WASHINGTON — As we continue sharing stories of our local heroes for Nurses Appreciation Week, we want to highlight a group of nurses who are also serving our country.
As health care recruiters for the Army, many men and women quickly pivoted to help assist with vaccine rollout and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Captain Takelya Benson is a healthcare recruiter and Army public health nurse.
"From back in high school I knew I wanted to do something medical. I decided to join the Army because it was a struggle trying to be a single parent and trying to go to school full-time as well. So, I ended up joining the Army, and as I learned more about the Army, I realized that the Army had a nursing program," Benson said.
Captain Jerome Ferrin is an Army nurse who has spent the last several months helping administer COVID-19 vaccines at Fort Hamilton, New York. "When I was in high school, I knew I really wanted to serve my country," Ferrin said.
"That’s what you do when you are a medical soldier right, you take care of soldiers so they’re ready. You also take care of their families so that they’re ready to go forward and do what they need to do because they know that their families have been taken care of.," said Ferrin.
Master Sergeant Carolyn Lange has been helping vaccinate soldiers, their family members and Department of Defense employees working on Fort Meade, Maryland.
"A lot of people got the opportunity to work from home because it was unsafe to go to their offices, but there is no telework for a bedside nurse," Lange said.
"It’s one thing to be a nurse, but I think it’s even more to be a nurse and also to serve your country at the same time," Benson said.
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"The first few days that I was out there it was definitely still in that phase of all 'yes we can get it,' everyone who was there, wanted to be there. They were excited," Lange said.
As the vaccine rollout continues, they said receiving the vaccine is one way we can all give back and serve our community.
"For me, my biggest thing is not necessarily for myself but I want to make sure I got vaccinated for my family," said Benson.
"The vaccine is a symbol of hope and there’s a bunch of reasons to get it. It’s a service not only to give it but also to receive the vaccine and contribute to a greater level of heard immunity in the community," said Ferrin.
"It’s really neat to see the people who choose to come in and have the hope of a return to another new normal, hopefully a more educated normal and a normal where there is more understanding of clinical diseases and how we can mitigate those in the future and live better lives after this crisis," Ferrin said.
As these nurses continue to fight a battle, the best way you can help the great nurses that are working in the community, is to get the vaccine.
"I think that lens of hope, that we’ve learned something from this event and that we can move forward and be better from a personal and public health standpoint, it’s really a great opportunity if we are able to see that as a society," said Ferrin.
