Mother and daughter working together as nurses to treat coronavirus patients: 'We're just called to step up'
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An Indiana mother and daughter have found themselves working in the same hospital amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Erica Prough, Director of Education and Professional Practice for Goshen Health told “Fox & Friends First” Tuesday that she is “so proud” of her daughter, Courtney Brickner, for following in her footsteps.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Certainly, I don’t think any of us could have ever dreamt that we would be in a situation like we are today,” Prough said.
Brickner, a nurse at Goshen Hospital, added, “it’s really special that I get to work with the same people my mom did.”
She added that a lot of the nurses she works with “have said how great a nurse my mom was.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Just having that to live up to has been a good challenge for me and just honoring her and her nursing career,” Brickner said on Tuesday.
Bricker acknowledged that it has been “challenging” dealing with COVID-19 on the job.
“So many things have been changing, our policies have been changing every day, sometimes multiple times a day,” she explained. “When it came about, we had to restructure our way of thinking and doing things and caring best for our patients by keeping them safe and us safe as well.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to The Indiana State Department of Health, Elkhart County, where Goshen is located, has seen 525 confirmed coronavirus cases and 21 deaths as of Tuesday.
“Every mother worries about their child,” said Prough, who added that while her daughter's work is “definitely a concern,” she knows “that as nurses we have great practices and we are fighting for our patients, but also in a way that keeps us safe.”
“No one could have ever seen this coming,” said Brickner, who added that the pandemic has made her realize that being a nurse is “what I’m called to do.”
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“As nurses we’re just called to step up and take care of those who can’t care for themselves," she said, "and so it just has solidified that for me even more that this is exactly what I need to do for the rest of my life."