An alumnus and College of Health Professions students are sharing their expertise in caring for patients in the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. James Thomas, a DNP alum, and current DNP students Lisa Lietzke and Sean Elwell are the authors of an article in Nursing 2021, titled “The Response of a Pediatric ED to COVID.”

In the early days of the pandemic, little was known about the impact of the virus on children. Thomas, Lietzke, and Elwell studied more than 5,000 patients at a pediatric hospital, including protocols developed to care for infected children and enhance staff safety.

That included using technology to share information among healthcare providers rapidly.

“The ED (emergency department) leadership team established a daily ED COVID Operations (Ops) huddle, wherein this team discussed updates on any required initiatives, processes, education, training, and status of personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies. Updates from these huddles were communicated to the entire ED team via email and posted to a private ED-specific channel, which all ED team members could access on their personal devices,” they wrote.

The staff also used simulation devices to practice resuscitating children while minimizing droplet exposure. The knowledge they gained can help pediatric teams at other hospitals to adjust their procedures to provide safer, more effective care.