Real Superheroes Wear Scrubs

By Sarai Henriquez, Editorial Intern

When we think about superheroes we usually think about Captain America, Superman and Batman. Those superheroes are great but unfortunately, they don’t exist. They only exist on comic book pages or movie screens. Nurses, on the other hand, have always walked among us.

In 2011, Rosemberg Jones-Pavon’s hospitalization in an intensive-care unit was a life-saving — and life-changing — event.

“What made me want to be a nurse was when I was hospitalized,” Jones-Pavon said. “I appreciated how all the staff worked in a group setting from the check-ins to the doctor, to the nurse, to everyone collaborating, working and even the lab technicians. So, I appreciate that they were there to save my life when I was in the ICU. I felt that I needed to pay that back into the world.”

Now, as a licensed vocational nurse, he is doing what he loves and giving back and helping those that need help. But being in the medical field for nine years did not prepare him enough for what was in store when COVID-19 hit the United States.

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, since Aug. 29, there has been an increase of 1,339 new cases of COVID-19.

Since the pandemic, the clinic where Jones-Pavon worked assisting doctors and patients (everything from checking the patient’s vitals to giving out vaccinations) closed. He was relocated to a different clinic, where he works as a tent screener.

Due to job safety Jones-Pavon couldn’t give the name of the clinic that he works at. 

Doctors and nurses are given personal protective equipment at his clinic every day to make sure that their employees are as safe as possible. They have the opportunity to switch out and put on new PPE throughout their shifts.

“They check our temperatures, they ask us screening questions,” Jones-Pavon said. “[Like] do you have a sore throat or loss of taste or smell or any cough or fever? Those are the essential questions we get asked before our shifts start.” 

He then gets his assignments for the day.

“I could be triaging patients,” Jones-Pavon said. “What that means [is that] if a patient comes in and says, ‘I have like a tickle in my throat, but I don’t think it is a sore throat,’ for us, that is a red flag and they are not allowed in the building until we do more of an investigation and we call a doctor on duty and the doctor will give us the yay or the nay.”

Jones-Pavon explained that after the assessment, if the doctor believes the patient may endanger the clinic or has concern for the patient’s health, the patient is sent to a different clinic where patients are treated for COVID-19 symptoms. 

When COVID-19 hit the United States, no one really was prepared or understood how big of an impact the virus would have.  

“One of the things for us was actually learning about the disease,” Jones-Pavon said. “We did not know much about it, our clinic and regional department work directly with the World Health Organization and also with [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]. So, learning about a new disease, how do we treat it, how we go about it, how to protect our staff, we all had to learn that.”

Updated training was necessary for all staff. That was provided by the health education department from the clinic that Jones-Pavon works for. They also had to learn how to wear the proper personal protective equipment, and how to have more proper hygiene and how to deal with patients that may have COVID-19.

“We get new masks every day; PPE is available to us at all times,” Jones-Pavon said. “With new masks, we also get new gowns, gloves, surgical masks, N95, and we also get hair caps and shields.”

With every superhero, there is a sidekick and Jones-Pavon is no exception. His wife is always making sure that his mental state is OK and when he gets home from a long shift that he is in the most comfortable environment.

“I feel proud that he is a nurse,” said Brooke Jones-Pavon, his wife. “That he is contributing in a positive manner to the community in ways that he can help decrease current health disparities that affect our community, specifically the black and Latino community. He is making an impact and you can see his care literally for each patient.”

 As a Latino, he has also made it his mission to educate people from his community.

“We are not given the luxury to all of this education, but being born Hispanic and being raised as a minority and being considered a minority in the eyes of others,” Jones-Pavon said. “It is my duty as a nurse to help our community and help educate [them] on the importance of taking care of [themselves].”

What 2020 has shown us is that even though Captain America only lives in a fantasy world, nurses are the real-life heroes who risk their lives every day to help and serve those in need.  “[In] healthcare we have been busting our asses and it’s about to get worse because of flu season,” Jones-Pavon said. “When we hear good comments like, ‘Thank you guys for working, thank you for going through this during the pandemic,’ it boosts our confidence and people are acknowledging that we are making a difference.”