TJ Wilcox-Olson

VA Portland Healthcare System
Portland, Oregon

April Yantis 

NOVA Chapter 364

Black Hills VA Health Care System
Ft. Meade, South Dakota

April Yantis has been a registered nurse for 10 years, a VA nurse for the last two, working with the Women’s Health program at VA Black Hills. She is the newest member of NOVA Chapter 364. Growing up, April had never thought about becoming a nurse. Her life experiences as a patient initially caused her to venture into it and she says that it has become her passion. In her late teens and early twenties, she had several surgeries and “became keenly aware of what a difference a great nurse could make in the recovery of a patient in the hospital.”   

April decided to begin pursuing higher education when two of her three children were in school. She took classes to become a CNA and then began working at a long-term care facility and then a rehab hospital. This led to her calling of becoming a nurse. She reflects, “I loved knowing the residents and patients. I loved ensuring their privacy and dignity even in the most basic of cares. I enjoyed the days and discussions with long-term care residents. I rejoiced with stroke patients when they walked out of the rehab hospital to go back to their lives.”

When COVID-19 arrived, so did the call for volunteers to hospitals across the country that were heavily inundated with sick patients. When April received the email calling for volunteers for the Disaster Emergency Management Personnel System (DEMPS) program, she says she couldn’t ignore it, “half of the time spent in my position is in the outpatient clinic. We were now unable to see many patients in the clinic, so my workload came to a screeching halt.” April was selected to deploy to the New Orleans VA. She says, “the experience was one that will forever be integrated into my life. Professional men and women, from every corner of our country, answering the call of help from our brethren to care for our country’s heroes.”

Her favorite part of the experience was the staff comradery. She shared that, "nurses from all over the country, MDs, Speech Therapy, OT/PT, Housekeeping, CNAs – everyone truly worked together to give each individual Veteran the best care possible.” The hardest part was the change from working in an outpatient area, as April has for most of her career, to becoming an inpatient floor nurse. She jokingly reports, “I had to reach into the cobwebs in the attic of my brain to remember some things. For example, hanging heparin for the first time was terrifying and I did the calculations half a dozen times before I felt confident. However, the aforementioned comradery of staff helped ease my trepidation. I asked many questions.” She humorously described her orientation as, “something like being thrown in the deep side of a swimming pool – but with floaties on my arms.”

April’s family was very supportive of her decision to go to New Orleans. Overall, she was fearless about walking into the storm. April felt confident the VA would provide all the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) which was available to protect staff and patients. She admitted that she was most fearful about the virus the day before she left for the deployment and she ensured her husband knew her final wishes. April’s supervisor and coworkers were also supportive prior to and after her return. She made sure to socially distance and wear her mask after returning from New Orleans.  

Her best advice to another nurse who is considering volunteering for DEMPS or some other type of disaster relief deployment is to “pack light but thoughtfully. Put on your brave face – you can do hard things.”

April hopes she will get more opportunities to volunteer for similar experiences in the future. She imparts, “any experience that can stretch us beyond our comfort zone is usually a great choice. We can glean even from negative experiences to become better nurses!”