The year 2020 will be forever known for the Covid pandemic as well as “THE YEAR OF THE NURSE.” 2020 was the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birthday, but the pandemic shone a spotlight on all front-line nurses who, armed with a fierce determination, clinical expertise, and sometimes limited supplies, stepped up in multiple venues to make a huge difference not just in individual lives but also in the communities they serve. Across multiple locations, nurses are vital players in improving public health outcomes around the world.
Now that the pandemic has slowed and nurses have had a chance to catch their breath, TSAOHN would like to spotlight one of our active occupational health nurses each quarter. This will highlight how Texas occupational health nurses are contributing to better health, stronger economies and greater gender equality as they perform their duties within the companies in which they work as they move forward–for truly, each year is THE YEAR OF THE NURSE!
2021 TSAOHN Nurse Spotlights
Leigh Ann Larson
RN, BSN
Occupational Health Nurse
Company and location you work for:
Klein Tools, Inc. I’m based out of our Mansfield, Texas location; however, I am responsible for all of our facilities in the U.S. which includes Illinois, Arkansas, New York and Pennsylvania.
How long have you worked in occupational health?
I began working in Occupational Health in 2011.
What does a typical workday look like?
On any given day, I’m providing first aid, managing workers compensation claims, collaborating with safety on accident investigation, educating employees regarding wellness, health prevention and personal medical conditions, providing first responder training and managing medical surveillance programs. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, much more of my focus has been directed to developing policies & procedures, health screenings, COVID-19 education, contact tracing, return to work programs and utilizing other resources to help keep our employees safe and our workplaces operational.
How has the pandemic changed your nursing practice?
As an essential business, working remotely wasn’t a possibility for many of our employees. Nursing care in all its forms took on a heightened sense of urgency. Like so many other OHNs, I had to become a subject matter expert on COVID-19 in a very short period of time. My nursing practice absolutely expanded from a traditional OHN role. The functions of public health nursing, epidemiology, mental health counselor, contact tracer, etc., all became much more prominent than they ever had before.
What breaks your heart?
The number of people who have suffered and died through misinformation or lack of information regarding COVID-19. The fact that some of that devastation might have been avoided with proper education just hurts.
What makes you come alive?
To me, one of the greatest rewards of nursing is seeing the “aha!” moment. Education is absolutely critical in fostering positive outcomes. That moment when the patient truly comprehends their condition or a procedure and you can see them reaping the benefits of that knowledge – it’s an awesome feeling.
Anna Serratos
RN BSN COHN-S.
Senior Nurse Specialist, Associate Wellbeing & Safety
Company and location you work for:
Nationwide the San Antonio office, servicing the states of Texas, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Pennsylvania
How long have you worked in occupational health?
Since 2013
What does a typical workday look like?
Usually, a typical workday would be performing ergonomic assessments, providing presentations to associates about our wellbeing program and promoting various health and wellness activities.
How has 2020 changed your nursing practice?
Covid changed the workplace tremendously. We went from a onsite call center to 100% work from home very early on in the pandemic. That meant providing remote assistance to help set up workstations from home, developing resources to help our population cope with the stress of the pandemic, providing remote consultations and resources for covid testing and onsite vaccinations in preparation for return to office. Emotional wellbeing is a huge component of my nursing practice and 2020 brought mindfulness and the benefits of emotional wellbeing to the forefront. Challenging conditions and new ways of working not only impacted my work population, but myself. Simply put, mindfulness carried me through 2020 and and I am now more than ever, convinced that we truly need to take care of ourselves in order to take care care of others.
What breaks your heart?
The unprecedented amount of lives lost to the pandemic is truly heartbreaking. The question of, could we have done more, or acted sooner as a country will linger with me for quite some time.
What makes you come alive?
Community makes me come alive. Despite all the loss that we experienced in 2020 I saw that we came together for food drives, we volunteered to pick up groceries for neighbors that were home bound. I saw nurses volunteer at mass vaccination drives after they worked 40+ hours, nurses that came out of retirement to help ease the burden on their peers. This profession makes me come alive! I am proud to be a part of the nursing community.
