Taos parishioner seeks to share hope in NYC hospital during COVID-19

Makenzie Abbott is serving as a physician assistant there for 21 days

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The days are long but manageable.

Her coworkers are kind, committed and focused.

Most of all, her patients need her.

That’s why Makenzie Abbott PA-C, a member of St. Francis Xavier parish in Taos, is working as a physician assistant in a hospital near the Bronx in New York.

She signed up to work for 21 days in the city with the largest concentration in the United States of patients who are infected with the coronavirus (COVID-19).

“I saw the opportunity and thought about it for a while and realized that this is something I was being called to do,” said Mrs. Abbott, wife of Ryan and a daughter of Joe and Shelley Smith.

“Having a great family support system really helps you cope with what’s going on here,” she said.

Mrs. Abbott graduated in December with a master’s degree in physician assistant studies from Missouri State University in Springfield. She obtained her license and credentials in February.

“I was applying for permanent jobs when the pandemic hit, so everything got put on pause,” she said.

She signed up with Krucial Staffing Agency, which recruits temporary personnel for large-scale response to disasters.

Having never visited New York, she’s now part of a healthcare team comprised of people from all over the country, especially the Northeast.

“I love hearing the different accents,” she said.

There was no preparing her for the sheer number of patients being admitted to hospitals in the nation’s most populous city.

“You just don’t expect to see sickness on this big of a scale,” she said. “You hear on the news about how many cases there are in New York, but you don’t know what that looks like until you see how overwhelmed the hospital is, how scarce the supplies are.

“There are people sitting multiple days in the Emergency Room because there are no more beds available,” she said. “People are stressed to the max, trying to help more and more patients, putting our skills to the test.”

All the patients in the unit staffed by her team have COVID-19. Most are sedated and are breathing with the help of a ventilator.

“If you get to see a patient come off of a ventilator, you know they’re making great progress,” she said.

Her team recently discharged its first patient who had COVID-19.

“That always lifts your spirits and gives you hope,” she said.

“God is listening”

Mrs. Abbott had experienced the loss of several loved ones in her life, but she never had to witness death as a medical professional.

Until now.

“It’s overwhelming at times because you see quite a few patients a day, even in your particular unit of the hospital, who unfortunately pass away,” she said.

Her instructors in school offered good advice on handling death and hard-to-treat illnesses, “but seeing it firsthand is quite a different experience,” she said.

“You do get attached to your patents and you obviously want them to get better,” she said. “It’s hard when despite whatever you’re doing, they just don’t make it.”

Having a good relationship with God helps tremendously.

“It’s comforting to know that God is there and is listening to your prayers,” she said. “It helps you realize that this will eventually pass and that He will guide you through it and help these people through it and move us all forward.”

Each morning, she reads a meditation on the daily readings in the Living Faith devotional and asks God to continue strengthening her and her coworkers to help His people.

Each evening, she thanks God for allowing her to serve in New York. She asks Him to look after her patients and the other staff members at the hospital and her family and friends back home.

She asks Him to help her stay healthy and safe “so that I can continue to assist others and hopefully help them heal.”

“A right fit”

Mrs. Abbott has always enjoyed science and always loved helping people — something her parents helped her appreciate.

“My mom got me into that when I was younger,” she said. “We did the giving tree at Christmas at church for 10 or 11 years.”

She watched several relatives battle cancer and other serious illnesses, which brought her into close contact with the medical field.

“It seemed like a right fit for me,” she said.

She hadn’t decided which facet of the health sciences to pursue, and she was looking forward to having some flexibility with starting her home life.

“So I chose being a physician assistant over being a physician,” she said.

Being part of a healthcare team especially appealed to her.

“We work with a provider or group of providers,” she said. “It facilitates the kind of collaborative medicine that I believe is beneficial to the patients.”

“Keep fighting”

COVID-19 commands healthy respect among everyone in the hospital.

“It definitely makes me cautious,” said Mrs. Abbott. “I take all the necessary precautions. I wear gloves, I wear my facemask in public, I wear the appropriate protective equipment in the hospital, and constantly wash my hands.”

He coworkers are attentive and protective of one another’s health and safety.

“If you don’t have the right equipment or need to put something else on, they will help you remember,” she said. “Like, ‘You’ll want to put on an extra gown when you go in that room.’”

They also take time to discuss how they’re handling the stress.

“Little conversations like that help remind you that you’re all in the same boat and have the same feelings,” she said.

Whenever she can, she tries to lighten people’s day with a smile, an upbeat thought and a thank you.

“Just being positive and trying to keep people upbeat, that’s what I’m trying to do,” she said. “Talking about things outside the hospital, their personal life, their family, really helps.”

She believes that her patients, although sedated, can hear her when she speaks to them.

“I go in and talk to them and tell them we’re here for them,” she said. “I tell them, ‘Hold on, stay strong and keep fighting.’”

Trust in Him

Mrs. Abbott believes this experience is helping her become a better person and a better professional.

“I think this is kind of a worst-case scenario as far as the medical community is concerned,” she said. “Seeing that and being a part of it makes us all vulnerable and brings humility to all providers.”

She believes God is using this experience to draw her closer to Him.

“My relationship with God has only grown and gotten stronger,” she said.

For those who are experiencing spiritual doubts through all of this, she suggests resting in the knowledge that God has a plan for everyone.

“Place your trust in Him and continue to talk to Him, even if you feel He’s not there or not watching over you,” she said.

Anything you can do

Mrs. Abbott visits with her husband and her parents every day by phone or videoconferencing to let them know she loves them and misses them and is taking every precaution to safeguard her health and safety.

“We remind ourselves that it’s just for a short time and that I’m hopefully making a difference, which I think makes it easier,” she said.

She’s been working with and learning from people from all over the world, with an array of different backgrounds and specialties.

“I’m thankful for all of the knowledge and experience I’m getting here, and I hope to take all of that home with me,” she said.

She hopes the people back home will keep praying for strength and safety for all the people who are fighting the coronavirus.

“Pray for the patients to fight harder and do their best to overcome this illness that’s taking such a toll on them,” she said.

She believes everyone can help God answer those prayers by “just being helpful and using your God-given talents, whatever they are, to help people in the community in this time of need.”

She advised everyone to take the government’s stay-at-home order seriously and “don’t leave home unless it’s totally necessary.”

“Trying to keep that peak number of patients as low as possible is important,” she said.

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