Felician Nurses are on the front lines as health care workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Most are women, some are men. Their ages vary, as does where they work. All their stories matter, what they have to say is important- especially now.

We’ll bring you their unique Felician stories beginning with the story of Nurse Elizabeth McDowell.

Elizabeth McDowell

Elizabeth McDowell worked as an Emergency Medical Technician at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood for two years before deciding to follow in the footsteps of an Aunt and Grandmother and study nursing at Felician. “I started a lot later than most people – in my 20’s, because, just like some teenagers, I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up,” jokes McDowell. First, she went to a State Community College, but realizing it wasn’t a good fit, she switched to Felician, and never looked back, “and I loved it.”

McDowell’s been a nurse for the last 6 years. Now 32, she works in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Hackensack University Medical Center, where every day she uses and finds herself grateful for her Felician education. “Besides, teaching me the skills to become a nurse, they also gave me the knowledge and confidence it takes to be a nurse, especially now.”

Now, meaning during the stressful, and often heartbreaking time of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nurse McDowell gets emotional talking about losing one or two patients per shift to the virus, and how on a recent Sunday, when it became clear that 2 patients weren’t going to make it, a priest was called to give them last rights.

Like most nurses McDowell joined the profession to help people, not for praise. Still, she admits it feels nice when people go out of their way to come up and thank her when they see her in uniform. “People have been very receptive,” she says, remembering “one gentleman who allowed her to cut in the coffee line ahead of him. “

Nurse McDowell stresses you don’t have to be a health care professional to do your part. She says donating blood if you’re able and continuing to practice social distancing and staying home can make a huge difference. “And hopefully we can get this under control and get back to normal for all of us, including us healthcare workers because life isn’t normal for us either.”

Nurse McDowell hasn’t seen her family for more than 8 weeks, and like her fellow nurses has to contend with skin that is endlessly raw from wearing a face mask for 12 hours straight, but none of it has dimmed her love of nursing and of Felician. “You know, I‘ve definitely taken everything they taught me, and used it from my first day of nursing to now six years later.”

Thank you, Nurse McDowell, and the Felician instructors who trained you to be Felician Ready to serve on the frontlines of this pandemic.

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About Felician University

Felician University engages over 2,300 undergraduate, graduate, and adult students through programs in Arts & Sciences, Business, Nursing, and Education. Universal Franciscan values of social justice, compassion, and respect for human dignity serve as an inclusive foundation for transforming the lives of tomorrow’s leaders. Felician University’s education is ranked 3rd best return on investment for private colleges in New Jersey 2018 by the PayScale.com College ROI Report and is ranked #1 safest college campus in the state by niche.com.