April 7, 2020

It’s hard to find time to appreciate all the healthcare professionals—especially those included in our College of Nursing and Health Professions family—when we’re moving 100 mph. Yet celebrating our Heroes of COVID-19, who are doing whatever it takes to care for people with or affected by this pandemic, is so important.

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Elizabeth Tomaszewski, DNP, is one of those Heroes of COVID-19 who has been working on the front line. This track director of the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program (AGACNP) and assistant clinical professor has been, on the weekends, in a COVID hot zone in the Pocono Mountains. “I work in critical care, and our entire ICU and two floors of our 90-bed hospital have become COVID-19 units,” Tomaszewski shared. “We have a great team, and am proud to say I’m on the front line with graduates of our AGACNP program working right next to me,” she added.

Laura N. Gitlin, PhD, the dean of the College, finds hope in all the stories of compassion pouring in from everyone. “What is amazing is the complete dedication despite high personal risk,” Gitlin observed. “It’s remarkable. When this is over…we need to find a way to celebrate,” she concluded.