AUBURN, Ala. – For the past month, Alex Harrell has been like the majority of America. Stuck at home and doing her part to help stop the spread of COVID-19. That's hard enough for the average person. But for Harrell, a travel nurse who is currently in between contracts, it's all she could do to not go help people.
"It breaks my heart," Harrell said. "I'd rather be in the hospital right now helping and doing my part. But I'm also doing my part like everybody else is – staying at home, only going out for the necessary things."
Home now, Harrell – who played golf at Auburn from 2012 to 2016 – was working in the Pediatric ER at Children's Hospital in Colorado when the coronavirus pandemic first began to escalate. Because of social distancing and schools being out, the number of patients the hospital saw was down, but there was still plenty of fear and anxiety.
Every child who came in, regardless of the reason, was treated as if they were positive out of precaution, and one of Harrell's patients did ultimately test positive for COVID-19.
"You could tell everybody was nervous," Harrell said. "Parents were concerned. There was a bunch of confusion from the parents, and we have to educate, which is obviously our main job as nurses and healthcare workers in general. But we've been able to do a lot of education, and when they came in, they were able to calm down and they feel a little better about what's going on."
It takes a certain passion to do what nurses do, especially during a pandemic where they are putting their lives at risk every day. For Harrell, that passion and her desire to work specifically with children originated while in Auburn's nursing school.
She went in not knowing what type of nurse she wanted to be. During her pediatric rotation, her pediatric clinical instructor, Ann Lambert, pulled her aside and said, "You really care."
"Yeah, I love kids," Harrell responded. "I've always loved kids."
Harrell had also spent a lot of time around nurses, especially pediatric nurses, while growing up. Her brother had a chronic condition and was in and out of the hospital for 21 years. He passed away a week and a half before Harrell began nursing school.
"For me, it's always been personal," she said. "I grew up helping my brother and helping my parents, and just seeing what he went through, I want to be the nurse that makes someone smile during a hard time because we had nurses that were like that.
"I don't regret it. I love it so much. I love working with these kiddos. I work with just out of the womb to 19 years old and sometimes 21 years old if they're chronic. So I don't always just get kids. I love the teenagers, too, because I can joke with them. They're hilarious. It's fun to work with this age range."
As a travel nurse, Harrell has worked across the country in cities such as New York City, San Diego, Providence before her latest stop in Denver. It was great for the former golfer who would travel throughout the year to play in various tournaments at Auburn.
However, Harrell's traveling days are over for now. She recently accepted a permanent job in the Pediatric ER at Piedmont Columbus Regional, not far from her hometown of Phenix City, Alabama. She will begin work there next week.
Though the coronavirus might look different than it did a month ago when Harrell was working in Colorado, her message to the people of Auburn still rings true.
"I just want to tell the Auburn Family to continue what they're doing with social distancing," she said. "Alabama was one of the last states to do the stay-at-home order but definitely take it seriously. Only go out for necessary things. Stay at home. If you have kids, make sure they're getting outside if you can. Play new board games. Continue to stay active and stay healthy. And make sure everyone is washing their hands."