During her three years on the University of Delaware women’s lacrosse team, Maura McNutt became known for her ability to prevent players from getting to the goal. Now, McNutt spends her days defending against a new threat: coronavirus.
McNutt, a 2019 graduate from Delaware’s nursing program, is a Registered Nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, or CHOP. CHOP is one of the oldest and largest children’s hospitals in the world, and is the United States’ first hospital dedicated to the treatment of children. U.S. News & World Report named CHOP No. 2 on its 2019-20 Honor Roll of Best Children’s Hospitals in the nation.
CHOP’s resources have made working as a nurse in these challenging times that much more manageable, McNutt says.
“It’s wonderful to be in a hospital that supports its staff and cares so much about its families. I think that they are trying their best to keep everyone safe, which is the ultimate goal, of course, but to fund research and even keep the families comfortable.”
Treating children is a unique task even in normal times, but the job presents new challenges during a pandemic. New rules regulating the number of family members who can see a child, along with using different vocabulary to keep young patients calm, adds to the complexity of treating children during a pandemic.
“Things that you would normally say to an adult like ‘we're going to put you on a stretcher.’ One time, a kid thought that meant their body was going to get stretched out and they were going to pull like their hands and their toes in opposite directions. You're not going to say ‘I'm going to flush your IV’ - that's something that's so simple and an adult will be okay. You’ll tell a child that they might feel something a little bit cold in their arm. I'm letting them know ahead of time what they might experience or what they might feel, as opposed to using any technical terms. We’re also not lying to them and let them be shocked when they feel something cold in their arm, because you want to develop that trust as well.”
The psychological factors of treating, and being treated, during a pandemic must be taken into account as well. Being hospitalized is a scary experience for a child, and being treated during a pandemic makes that experience even more menacing. Nurses enter rooms sometimes with big hoods for respirators, which could appear foreign and intimidating to a young child. The hood prevents nurses from presenting a smiling face to ease a child’s worries.
CHOP features a child life services team to help children cope with medical procedures and healthcare experiences. The child life team created buttons of the nurses smiling, which are placed on the hoods to show patients that there is someone who is there to help them under the hood.
“I do think that the psychological part is one of the most important things with pediatrics,” McNutt said. “They say nursing is a science and an art. Here you are, noticing all these clinical changes and knowing when to call for help when something's a little bit different. But you're that reassuring smile at the bedside and making sure that they're comfortable and understand what's going on.”
The pandemic has forced some big changes for McNutt and her colleagues at CHOP. The hospital adopted the policy of universal masking, requiring all staff members to wear masks at all times while in the hospital. Prior to the pandemic, staff would only wear masks when entering a room with a patient who was on droplet contact precautions. There is a lot of uncertainty around how long such a policy will last and whether it could be implemented permanently and institutionally. Then, there’s the question of the ability to test asymptomatic patients moving forward. McNutt knows the next year will bring many changes and new policies, but she’s confident in CHOP’s ability to put its staff and patients in the best possible position to be safe.
“We're totally prepared, and I think we have the resources to be able to tackle whatever is thrown at us.”
Despite the challenging environment a pandemic presents, McNutt has found moments of positivity in the smiles on the children’s faces when they’ve started to recover, and feeling like she’s making a difference in their lives on a daily basis.
Some children are intubated and sedated to help with their recovery. Intubation involves inserting a tube through the mouth and into the airway to assist a patient with breathing. It’s a unique feeling, McNutt remarks, to see a child’s first smile after not moving for a period of time.
“You see these kids who are intubated and on sedation, and they're pretty much laying there with no movement. We start to deescalate care, and all of a sudden you see them smile for the first time and start to move again. They're talking again, and it's so great to see them on their road to recovery. You leave at the end of the day knowing that made a difference.”
McNutt notes how CHOP has received shout outs from the Philadelphia Eagles and the Philadelphia 76ers. Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham teamed up with CHOP to create a public service announcement to help parents explain the threat of coronavirus to their kids. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson also took time to pay a virtual visit to patients at CHOP, and Sixers forward Mike Scott joined forces with Red Bull to provide 600 meals to the overnight staff at CHOP.
It’s awesome how we’re usually cheering on these people, and now they’re like it’s our turn to cheer you on,” McNutt said.
CHOP is also fortunate to have partnerships with companies like Wawa, who have donated coffee to the hospital’s staff and families of patients. Local eateries are also doing their part to support CHOP.
“I feel like the whole city is even supporting the hospital. And everyone knows how much the hospital cares about its patients.”
Before beginning her career at CHOP, McNutt played defender for the Blue Hens’ women’s lacrosse team. A three-time letter winner for Delaware, McNutt was originally a member of the club lacrosse team before walking on to the varsity team as a sophomore. She registered a career-best 22 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers during her senior season, marks good for fifth and third, respectively, in Delaware single-season history. McNutt finished her career with 36 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers.