S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
S U M M E R 2 0 2 1
UCLA
SCHOOL OF NURSING
HEROES
UCLA SON students, faculty, staff, and alumni reflect on 2020.
THIS MAGAZINE ISN’T LIKE THE PREVIOUS MAGAZINES YOU’VE RECEIVED FROM US.
USUALLY, AROUND THIS TIME, WE WOULD HAVE STORIES ABOUT SCHOLARSHIPS RECEIVED
AND AWARDS WON. WE WOULD SHARE NEWS ABOUT STAFF AND FACULTY PROMOTIONS,
FUNDED RESEARCH, AND PICTURES OF HOSTED EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
BUT THIS MAGAZINE
WILL BE DIFFERENT;
BECAUSE THIS YEAR
HAS BEEN DIFFERENT.
WE ARE HIGHLIGHTING SOME OF THE MANY CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY MEMBERS
OF THE SCHOOL OF NURSING COMMUNITY OVER THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF.
ON THE PAGES THAT FOLLOW, STUDENTS, ALUMNI, FACULTY AND STAFF SHARE THEIR
REFLECTIONS ABOUT HOW THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED THEIR LIVES PERSONALLY,
PROFESSIONALLY, ACADEMICALLY OR ALL OF THE ABOVE.
WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS ISSUE OF THE SCHOOL OF NURSING MAGAZINE,
AS TOLD BY OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY…IN THEIR OWN WORDS.
2 | UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021
WE DID IT! WE ENDURED. We continued to provide excellent nursing education to the next
generation of nurses, leaders and scholars. We never stopped. Who would have thought when we all
went home in March of 2020, that teaching remotely would last over a year? It was a year we never
anticipated. Fortunately, to be a nurse means always being ready for the unexpected.
In this final year of my deanship, we are ending the second year of a global celebration of nurses,
extended by the global pandemic. UCLA nurses have been at the forefront of the pandemic by helping
with vaccinations, contact tracing, and caring for patients affected by COVID-19 and their families. Our
scientists and doctoral students responded to the constraints of the pandemic by making dramatic
changes in their data collection and research design to move their science forward. We learned a new
vocabulary: Zoom, un-mute, blursday, social distancing, essential workers…and remote learning. We
learned that pulling together as a community via Zoom or through frequent check-ins was critical to
our well-being. We appreciated the expanded role of simulation in nursing education. I am so proud of
the entire UCLA School of Nursing community for getting us through this tumultuous year.
While fully remote, we obtained our accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
(CCNE) after an entirely virtual visit. We continued our robust diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
programming to give needed space to the critical and ongoing conversations around race and
health disparities that were amplified over the last year. We are committed to making a difference. We
welcomed a new Associate Dean for DEI, Professor Roberto Lucero, who will help lead these efforts.
We continued teaching, learning, and researching to improve the health and lives of Californians and
the neighborhoods in which we all live.
More students than ever before applied for our nursing programs. Our graduate programs advanced
four spots to #16 on The US News and World Report list, #7 among public schools of nursing. We even
completed a national search for the next School of Nursing dean, fully remote! Dean Lin Zhan will
begin her tenure in August, 2021.
Yes, this has been a year of challenge. But it has also been a year of opportunity. Every generation
of nurses faces challenges and opportunities. The graduates of today will need to lead the efforts
to address the pressing need for health equity, disparities, and social and racial injustice in our
communities. There will be new health issues in the aftermath of the pandemic that will affect the
increasingly diverse and aging population in our state. The pandemic also taught us about the power
of telehealth to extend our reach to communities.
I want to acknowledge the tremendous contributions of our brilliant faculty, our incredible staff,
our bright and devoted students as well as our very supportive network of alumni and friends. As we
close out the 2021 academic year, as well as my tenure here, I am convinced that our best days are
yet to come.
Thank you for the honor and privilege of serving as the seventh dean of the UCLA School of Nursing.
I hope you enjoy this poignant and personal issue of our magazine.
Linda Sarna, PhD, MN ’74,
RN, BS ‘69, FAAN
Dean and Distinguished Professor
Lulu Wolf-Hassenplug Chair
UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021 | 3
WE LEARNED THAT PULLING
TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY
VIA ZOOM OR THROUGH
FREQUENT CHECK-INS WAS
CRITICAL
TO OUR
WELL-
BEING.”
4 | UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021
LAST SUMMER, I SIGNED UP AS A VOLUNTEER for the Pfizer/BioNTech phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial.
I followed vaccine development closely in 2020, but hadn’t considered participating personally until
I got an Instagram ad recruiting participants. After I read about the study, I decided to sign up. As it was
a double-blind trial, I didn’t know whether I received the actual vaccine or the placebo. But it seemed
important to me to contribute in this small way to finding a vaccine that could end the pandemic.
It was hard for me not to know whether I got the actual vaccine or the placebo. As a practicing nurse,
it would have meant a lot to me to get the active vaccine, and I really, really did not want to be in the
placebo group. However, after my second injection, I had a lot of side effects (fever, chills, headache,
muscle pain) that gave me a strong suspicion that I had received the true vaccine. This was confirmed
when the vaccines were finally authorized for emergency use, and I was unblinded from the study.
I wanted to help nurses and physicians prepare to have conversations about the COVID-19 vaccines
and their side effects with patients, so I wrote about my experience in the trial in a perspective
published in JAMA Internal Medicine in December 2020. I had the opportunity to talk with several
media outlets about my experience and later helped give COVID-19 vaccines in Los Angeles. Now I’m
conducting research on vaccine confidence and hesitancy among healthcare workers and families of
children with autism and developmental disabilities. From being a trial volunteer, to giving vaccines as
a nurse, to studying vaccine uptake as a researcher, it has been very meaningful to play this small role
in helping to end the pandemic. The importance of nursing in a pandemic context — from patient care
to public health to science and research — cannot be overstated. Our profession is the backbone of
healthcare and public health.
Kristen Choi, PhD, MSN, RN
Assistant Professor
UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021 | 5
IT HAS BEEN
VERY
MEANINGFUL
TO PLAY THIS
SMALL ROLE
IN HELPING TO END THE PANDEMIC.”
FROM BEING A TRIAL VOLUNTEER,
TO GIVING VACCINES AS A NURSE,
TO STUDYING VACCINE UPTAKE
AS A RESEARCHER,
6 | UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021
WORKING AT THE UCLA SCHOOL OF NURSING REMOTELY during the pandemic has been, to say
the least, interesting. While it has been great to stay connected to our alumni and donors via Zoom
calls, it has presented a unique set of challenges. “Will Spectrum Internet be out today? How come
my software won’t load today? I keep talking while the mute button is on!” However, these challenges
are trivial compared to the work I’m doing at home and knowing it is impacting the lives of our nurses
working on the front lines today battling this pandemic.
At the onset of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, we were agile in our response with fundraising, quickly
setting up a Crisis Support Fund. We raised more than $35,000 from over 100 alumni and friends, which
benefited our APRN students working tirelessly on the frontlines of the pandemic. It was fulfilling to
know that we were doing our part in supporting our nurses/nursing students and having an impact on
the global health crisis, even if it was a small dent. Additionally, we planned virtual Zoom events and
mixers, helping our alumni feel connected while we couldn’t interact with our friends, networks, and
communities, and even launched a new iteration of our Alumni Board of Directors.
As we all got into a rhythm of working from home through the rest of 2020 and into 2021, it was
important for me to also practice self-care and mindfulness, which many of our nursing faculty
advocate for today. It was important to have weekends just be weekends and explore Mother Nature
(sustainably). The candid photo you see above is of me and my dog, Jake, on a weekend camping trip.
He has been a great furry companion during these times.
I look forward to seeing how our lives will continue to evolve through 2022 and how my role in the
school can continue to help support our outstanding nurses and healthcare professionals!
Jonathan Adrias
Director of Alumni Relations
Associate Director of Development
UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021 | 7
…IT WAS IMPORTANT TO FOR ME
TO PRACTICE
SELF-CARE
AND
MINDFULNESS,
WHICH MANY OF OUR NURSING
FACULTY ADVOCATE FOR TODAY.”
8 | UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021
AS THE PRESIDENT OF MEN IN NURSING AT UCLA, I believe it is an essential part of our mission to
give back to our community and our team is always looking for volunteering opportunities. I moved
to the US from Moscow in 2011 after a career as a professional dancer. Without any English and any
real plan, my circuitous path to nursing school would not have been possible without many people
who helped me in different ways, from lending me a couch to sleep for a night to giving me advice on
the next steps in my career. Now that I am in a position where I can help, volunteering has become a
priority. During COVID-19, we tried to pull together as a group to be where our community needed us
the most. While volunteering for Venice Family Clinic (VFC), I learned that it was a full-service clinic run
entirely by volunteer medical professionals. During COVID-19, I reached out to VFC to offer our help
with their vaccination drive and I am glad to say that more than 40 students and alumni volunteered.
Nursing is not just a job you choose, it is a calling, and we must take action and meet the challenge that
these difficult times present to us.
Armen Akopyan, BS ‘21
Chapter President,
UCLA Men In Nursing (2019-2021),
AAMN Outstanding Student 2020
Award Honoree
NOW THAT I AM IN A POSITION WHERE I CAN HELP,
VOLUNTEERING HAS
BECOME A PRIORITY.”
UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021 | 9
10 | UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021
SO WHEN THE PANDEMIC HIT AND THE SHUTDOWN OCCURRED, all teaching was conducted
remotely using Zoom. As an extrovert and a very social person, it was tough; I’m used to chatting
informally with students and learning about their goals and dreams. I teach pathophysiology, a difficult
subject for nursing students. I have always incorporated humor and enthusiasm in my lectures and
often share stories to underscore difficult concepts and help make the material relevant to clinical
experiences. Engaging students, developing relationships with students, providing on-the-spot
mentoring, advice, encouragement, and support is something I strive to do for all levels of students.
But doing this as a small talking box on Zoom is challenging! My TA and I decided that we needed to
help students get to know us as people (not just as talking Zoom boxes). We needed to incorporate
something lighthearted and fun into the remote pathophysiology courses. We started “Get to
know Dr. BBJ and Attallah” sessions and theme days. During the “Get to know Dr. BBJ and Attallah”
sessions, we shared professional and personal experiences in the first 5 to 10 minutes of class. Themes
included “wear your favorite face mask,” “sunglasses,” “Bruin spirit,” “Disney Day,” and “Cardigan Day,”
sometimes with theme music. We also practiced patience and flexibility. For example, students were
not required to turn on their videos (although they were encouraged to do so!) as some students were
sharing internet service with other family members or attending class in their kitchens or bedrooms.
We also reached out to any student who did not attend class to check if they were experiencing any
difficulties. Open office hours allowed students to talk about their goals and their lives as well ask
questions about course content. These strategies did not eliminate the loss of seeing students in
person or having them drop by my office to see what I had on my snack cart or the informal questions
that often lead to advice and mentoring, but they did help to engage students. As for myself and my
TA, they helped us too!
Barbara Bates-Jensen, PhD ‘98,
MN ’92, RN, WOCN, FAAN
Professor
UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021 | 11
WE NEEDED TO INCORPORATE
SOMETHING
LIGHTHEARTED
AND FUN
INTO THE REMOTE
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY COURSES.”
THE ONSET OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC COMPLETELY CHANGED
MY WORLD as a working nurse practitioner and as a student. It was
surreal to have been accepted to one of the most competitive PhD
programs in the country here at UCLA — my excitement was mixed
with trepidation just like any student starting a new academic path.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic altered the world and changed
school instructional flow and work responsibilities for healthcare
workers. During COVID-19’s initial phase, we had little information
and lots of fear as we treated patients. The tension of the pandemic
immensely affected my work and made me question if going to school
is feasible. We received news of online instruction for our doctorate
studies. I felt uneasy about synchronous and asynchronous learning
during a pandemic. I wondered, “Will this all work?”
As nurses, we are all adaptable and malleable to the challenges we
face daily. Thankfully, online learning, while discovering how
to find the Zoom link and how to share screen almost
weekly, became a second nature. We are trained to face
challenges and become more inspired to persevere
in spite of these challenges. Online learning took
a bit of time to get used to but it worked — our
cohort was able to participate in discussions, do
presentations, and upload academic papers just
like in a classroom setting. My cohort was able to
keep up with the academic rigor of the program
in an online setting. We were able to do our
biostatistics classes and lab work online as well
as do Zoom meetings to talk to other professors
and potential academic dissertation committee
members. In fact, online learning made it easier
to access individuals and resources to help shape
our dissertation. Learning online is a doable
modality that should be considered for working
professionals as it has shown to be effective,
especially during a pandemic.
Paul Boy, MSN, MPH, AGACNP-BC,
AGPNP-C, PCCN, PHN, PhD Class of 2024
PhD DEI Representative
12 | UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021
AS NURSES, WE ARE
ADAPTABLE
AND MALLEABLE
TO THE CHALLENGES WE FACE DAILY.”
I HAVE BEEN A NURSE IN THE PEDIATRIC INTENSIVE CARE UNIT at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
for the past five years. You could say I am used to caring for critically ill children, but this year felt so
different! Our CHLA PICU has been the main pediatric COVID ICU for Los Angeles County since the
onset of the pandemic. It has been difficult to witness firsthand so many healthy children contract
COVID or MIS-C (a severe pediatric inflammatory condition linked to COVID-19). Still, I am
lucky to be a part of an incredible team of expert healthcare professionals who tirelessly
and selflessly dedicate themselves to their patients. Many of these children required
breathing tubes and ventilators, vasopressor and sedation drips, feeding tubes,
and continuous dialysis for their COVID-related multi-system organ failure.
Unfortunately, some of them now have lifelong complications from the virus.
One of the hardest things about this year for me personally was the fear of
the unknown. I was constantly terrified about somehow bringing the virus
home from work to my loved ones. However, this year has taught me the
importance of slowing down and taking a deep breath during difficult times
to reflect on the many blessings in my life. I have been able to spend more
time with my family (socially distanced, of course, before vaccines!), explore
more of the outdoors, and take more time for myself than ever before.
I am currently finishing up my first year in UCLA’s Dual Acute Care and
Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program. I have had the
opportunity to provide COVID vaccine education during my clinical
rotations. Since the beginning, I have been a fierce vaccine
advocate and I love sharing my experiences about getting the
vaccine and caring for COVID patients and their families.
I am optimistic that life will return to normal soon and it
is exciting to see more and more children going back to
school and doing well. There were many days when I felt
hopeless, frustrated, and exhausted, but I will never
forget my experiences working on the front lines
during these unprecedented times.
Erin Burgos, RN, BS ‘16, CCRN, CPN, MN Class of 2022
SINCE THE BEGINNING,
I HAVE BEEN
A FIERCE
VACCINE
ADVOCATE.”
UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021 | 13
14 | UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021
WHEN WE WATCHED THE DISEASE SPREAD IN CHINA and then Washington and Northern California,
I hoped that it was well controlled and wouldn’t spread to Southern California. That hope was certainly
dashed in early March, when the first patient came to Harbor UCLA Medical Center. By the time we
received our first patient, we had met for several weeks to discuss how an older hospital with few ICU
isolation rooms could handle a pandemic.
Years ago, I attended a White House Pandemic Task Force meeting at the Endowment Center in
Los Angeles. I had a binder that covered what to expect, including school closures, mandatory mask-
wearing, etc. I was not expecting the fear I could see in my staff’s eyes when they shared their concerns
about enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and their concern for their health and potentially
exposing their family.
I rounded multiple times a day and put my day job on hold for over a year. The patients kept coming
and at one point, we had 200% of our ICU census. We also had physicians helping us with tasks because
there were not enough nurses to go around and we were on Team Nursing at times. The physicians
helped with proning, transporting patients, and assisting with basic care when they were in the room.
I was proud to represent nursing in interviews with CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and The Today Show even
though I had worked so many days in a row and I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I was
concerned about what nurses were experiencing as they alone accompanied patients at the end of
life. I am so proud of the nursing staff but concerned about their well-being in the future because of
the impact of this experience.
When I learned that I was the Distinguished Alumni of the Year for UCLA School of Nursing I was proud
and humbled. There are so many outstanding alumni who have gone to UCLA School of Nursing, and
I was one of many. I am very proud to be a two-time Bruin who was accepted into and completed the
programs twice. My accomplishments have not been individual accomplishments, but are because I
recognize the value of a team. I am very grateful to the SON, and I am proud to have been chosen.
Nancy Blake, PhD ‘12, MN ‘89
Chief Nursing Officer
LAC + USC Medical Center
2021 Distinguished Alumni Award Honoree
UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021 | 15
MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
HAVE NOT BEEN INDIVIDUAL
ACCOMPLISHMENTS, BUT ARE BECAUSE
I RECOGNIZE
THE VALUE OF
A TEAM.”
16 | UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021
THE PAST YEAR HAS BEEN VERY CHALLENGING FOR MOST OF US IN HEALTHCARE due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Working in an infectious disease/HIV clinic as a nurse practitioner, I have seen
how the pandemic has prompted much fear and anxiety among the LGBTQ+ community and our
patients living with HIV/AIDS. Our patients are scared to see us in the clinic for their follow-up or go
to the laboratory for their tests. Some of my patients taking Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) have
stopped taking it because they stopped having sex. Despite the pandemic and social distancing,
unfortunately, there are still people contracting HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Some
of my patients have lost their jobs and health insurance due to the crisis, which added more stress.
Initially, I was fearful of contracting COVID-19 at work due to a lack of personal protective equipment.
I was scared of bringing it home with me and infecting my older parents, who live with me, especially
my mother, who is battling pancreatic cancer and on chemotherapy. It has been tough on our
mental health, but we are challenged to end the pandemic as nurses and frontline workers. I ended
up volunteering as a clinical trial participant in the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine last summer.
I was told that I received the actual vaccines in the trial and not the placebo before it was approved by
the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. I have given online presentations on COVID-19
emerging treatments and clinical trials locally and abroad for the past year. I also have been a COVID-19
vaccine advocate among my patients, family, and friends. I encourage and recommend everyone to
get the vaccine. We are now seeing the light at the end of this nightmare as more people are getting
vaccinated. The COVID-19 pandemic may have interrupted our work in HIV, but our work in ending
HIV/AIDS is not done.
UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021 | 17
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
MAY HAVE INTERRUPTED
OUR WORK IN HIV, BUT
OUR WORK
IN ENDING
HIV/AIDS IS
NOT DONE.”
Harold Sarmiento, MSN ‘16, APRN, AGPCNP-BC,
DNP Class of 2022
Infectious Diseases NP KP LAMC
18 | UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021
AS A NEW FACULTY MEMBER, one of the greatest professional challenges I faced was teaching my
first large lecture course just a week after the stay-at-home orders were implemented. While trying
to adapt the course material for remote learning, I myself became ill with mysterious symptoms that
landed me in urgent care just days before the first class. I received IV fluids and medications, but no real
answers. Just discharge paperwork that simply read — YOU MAY HAVE THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS.
In those early weeks, testing was extremely limited and because I was not experiencing known
symptoms, I was not tested.
On the first day of class, I knew I could not begin the course content without acknowledging the
massive changes and uncertainty affecting us all. I asked students about the impact of the pandemic
on many aspects of their lives in order to better support them as their teacher. I was deeply moved by
the stories they shared. Many had left campus to return home. Some had parents who were losing their
jobs and businesses; others had family members working in hospitals and other essential services on
the front lines; one had already lost a family member. Many were worried about finances and income
loss. Some were questioning their career choice and expressed fears about completing their clinical
rotations. I was reminded of my own experience as a college student in NYC during 9/11, remembering
the struggle to “keep calm and carry on” in my studies, how far away from my family and alone I felt,
and how sad and bleak the world seemed. I tried to support my students from afar — through Zoom
— and let them know that, even though I didn’t have all the answers, we were in this together.
Meanwhile, I was adjusting in my own life with my two young children at home, wondering what was
happening and struggling with virtual schooling. Once vaccines became available, I volunteered in
the clinic to help that effort. I administered a vaccine to one elderly woman who had walked more
than a mile using a walker to receive hers. When reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, the early
phases are already growing blurry, and I can’t believe these students are now graduating. I am beyond
proud of their dedication and hope to someday meet them in person!
UCLA School of Nursing Magazine – Summer 2021 | 19
I TRIED TO SUPPORT MY STUDENTS
FROM AFAR — THROUGH ZOOM —
AND LET THEM KNOW THAT
EVEN THOUGH
I DIDN’T
HAVE ALL THE
ANSWERS,
WE WERE
IN THIS
TOGETHER.”
Eden R. Brauer, PhD ‘16, MSN ‘09, RN
Assistant Professor