Ohio Northern University

By Karen Kier, Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU HealthWise team 

The Country Song of the Year Grammy was awarded to Love Can Build a Bridge performed by the Judds in 1992. The song was released in 1990 as a farewell after Naomi Judd was diagnosed with a hepatitis C infection. Naomi attended California’s College of Marin to study nursing and became a registered nurse. She worked in the intensive care unit at a Tennessee hospital when she contracted hepatitis C from a needlestick when taking care of a patient.  Healthcare professionals are at risk of contracting hepatitis from a needlestick.  

With the COVID-19 pandemic altering the health care landscape in numerous ways, recent ONU nursing graduates have been at the first responder forefront.

What have their experiences been like thus far? Two 2021 Ohio Northern University graduates, who are also engaged to be married, offered their thoughts on becoming nurses during these challenging times.

James Fisher, BSN '21, from Castalia, Ohio, is working at the Cleveland Clinic’s medical ICU at Fairview Hospital. Christina Stalla, BSN '21, from North Ridgeville, Ohio, is working at the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus on a medical/surgical telemetry unit caring for patients with a wide variety of diagnoses.