All hands on deck: For health care workers, it's all about coming together, learning

Photo / Courtesy of Enclave of Scarborough Randi Gonneville and Amber Wilson run the Enclave of Scarborough lemonade cart.

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By Catie Joyce Bulay

Liz Joyce didn’t expect to have to deal with one of the most challenging health care crises in history just out of med school, but that’s where she found herself last year in her second year of residency at Maine Medical Center.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic posed an added layer of challenge and stress in an already demanding time in her career, it also offered opportunities she wouldn’t have had.

“It is definitely exciting to be part of this historical event,” says Joyce, speaking of her personal experience and not as a representative of Maine Med. “We got the chance to rise to a challenge, adapt to be able to continue providing care to patients while keeping them safe from an infectious disease.”

She says she appreciated the opportunity to implement new medical research in such a short time frame. She also learned how to conduct telehealth office visits and adapt medical care to a digital format, skills she may not have otherwise learned if it weren’t for the pandemic.

The Pennsylvania native has another year of residency before she becomes a board-certified family medicine physician and hopes to stay and work in Portland.

Like Joyce, everyone in the healthcare field, whether seasoned or new arrivals had to adapt quickly to changes and learn new skills. This often creates pressures and new demands on a field already experiencing shortages.

Jeffrey Austin, vice president of government affairs and communication for the Maine Hospital Association, says that while the pandemic put a greater strain on the state’s critical nursing shortage, he also says it created new or expanded roles for healthcare workers, like administering vaccines and COVID tests.

The pandemic created increased demand on hospital infrastructure, which in turn created a greater need for staffing in areas like supply procurement and data analysis. Some of this demand may slow down, while other areas that had initially slowed or stopped last year, like elective surgeries, are now picking back up.

Many positions in the field have been growing without the help of the pandemic. Austin says he’s seen home health care triple in size in the last 20 years and great growth in social workers, patient navigators and care coordinators in hospitals.

Maine’s nearly 100 nursing homes, or skilled nursing facilities, are feeling the same shortage in both nursing and other hands-on caregiver positions, says Nadine Grosso, director of communications for the Maine Health Care Association.

Photo / Courtesy of Enclave of Scarborough

Randi Gonneville lifestyles associate, resident Carole Reid, and Amber Wilson, director of lifestyles

One important job that gained a new set of duties during the pandemic was nursing home activities director, whose education can vary from a high school diploma to an advanced degree in therapeutic recreation.

When nursing homes and assisted living facilities shut their doors to guests to protect their residents from the virus, connecting residents with their families through technology, like Facetime became vitally important. As residents lost access to family members, volunteers, entertainers, instructors and ministers from the community, it fell on activities staff to take on these roles too, which meant getting even more creative.

“This pandemic, although a struggle at first, quickly became an opportunity to overcome a challenge of how to move forward and to keep our residents safe and thriving,” says Amber Wilson, the life enrichment director at the Enclave of Scarborough and senior director of lifestyles for Enclave’s operating company, Bridge Senior Living.

Wilson and her staff went from providing group activities to having to meet with residents one-on-one. Enclave employees also increased staff appreciation and support efforts during the pandemic, including thank-you lunches and a “Best version of you” 30-day challenge.

“To not only say but to show our associates are valued and appreciated was and is still key,” she says and credits the leadership of Enclave Executive Director Caitlin Marsanskis, who she says got them through this difficult time.

Grosso says nursing facilities across the state have responded to this challenging time by offering staff access to grief counseling, along with state initiatives like providing a warmline for frontline workers, and pastoral/religious advisors. She also says a solid peer mentoring program has helped nursing home employees who have “had to endure a lot this year. It’s important for facilities to make sure staff have a safe place to share their feelings,” she says.

Folks who work in laundry or dietary, anywhere, were really coming together to do what’s needed for residents.
^{_{— Nadine Grosso, Maine Health Care Association}}

“The pandemic required an all-hands-on-deck approach,” says Grosso. “Folks who work in laundry or dietary, anywhere, were really coming together to do what’s needed for residents.”

There is always a need for these key support staff roles, like housekeeping and dietary, she says. Many of these jobs can be done straight out of high school and for people with an interest in a career in healthcare the opportunities to advance are great.

“One thing I think long-term care is good at is the career ladder for people who start out and say ‘I love this work’ and want to stay,” says Grosso. She and Austin both note most healthcare companies offer tuition reimbursement programs, and, for graduates of education programs, many hospitals offer incentives like sign-on bonuses and loan forgiveness as part of recruitment and hiring packages.

Outlook positive for Maine health care students

This year 1,900 students are studying at one of Maine’s seven community colleges to be nurses or allied health professionals, like physical therapists, occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, radiology technicians, and, through the system’s newest program, substance abuse counselors.

Students can receive a bachelor’s or master’s degree in nursing from the University of Maine’s School of Nursing, the state’s oldest nursing program.

Maine’s liberal arts colleges provide guidance for students interested in a career in health. Colby College’s Davis Connects provides specialized advising for students interested in nurse practitioners, optometry, public health and health administration.