KILLEEN, Texas — Healthcare workers around the world have been putting themselves at risk to make sure all of us can stay healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our job is to be there for people," Delia Haley said. "Even when the worst is going on."
Haley was one of four nursing residents at AdventHealth Central Texas in Killeen for the past 12 weeks. She, alongside Trizia Benavente, Ericka Phillips and Norman Gladden, were celebrated Friday.
Celebrated, because of the turn their residencies and the healthcare industry, in its entirety, took during the coronavirus outbreak.
"Our nursing residency is, often, very structured," Tammy Rodriguez, chief nursing officer, said. "We have a task that we'll ask each resident to complete. That went out the window pretty immediately."
Instead of looking to their mentors strictly for guidance, they found themselves often learning alongside them as they adapted to constantly-changing recommendations and conditions.
"It's like, 'OK, this is what I would expect if I were to get this patient,'" Haley said. "It's helping you prepare for more of those situations that you don't normally see."
Their adaptations, Rodriguez said, impressed so many of their mentors they put on a celebration with barbecue and fellowship Friday.
Now, their sites move toward their permanent careers with AdventHealth.
"For us, this is a completely normal thing," Phillips said. "Whereas, for somebody who's been a nurse for 20 years, it's completely not normal."
All four nurses will stay in the AdventHealth system, with two staying in Killeen and the other two heading to AdventHealth Rollins Brook in Lampasas.
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