My name is Saul Villalobos and I am originally from Mexico. I moved to the U.S. with Conexus MedStaff. When I moved to the U.S. from Mexico, I had the intention of becoming a healthcare professional, not knowing exactly which path I would take, yet very excited for the new adventure. Thankfully, I met great people along the way who encouraged me to become an international registered nurse.
"Without thinking twice..."
After looking into it and without thinking twice, I began my career in nursing. In December 2019, I graduated from school and began working with Conexus to find my first assignment as a Registered Nurse. I was excited and very scared at the same time. After all, I knew I would soon be taking care of real people with real health problems. Little did I know it would all happen in the midst of a pandemic.
"Everything that was happening around the world was very scary..."
About a month before being deployed to my new assignment with Conexus, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced, for the sixth time in history, a public health emergency of international concern. Everything that was happening around the world was very scary, it just seemed like we didn’t know enough. New guidelines came out from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how to prevent and stop the spread of COVID-19. Besides people hoarding toilet paper, there was a positive attitude towards such recommendations.
"It makes me feel safe in the workplace... to fulfill my role as a nurse..."
As a nurse and caregiver, I am happy to see people wearing masks, washing their hands as often as they can, and practicing social distancing. It makes me feel safe in the workplace, which in turn allows me to fulfill my role as a nurse in a more effective and efficient way. What a blessing!
"There is still much work to do..."
This fight is not over yet. Despite the many efforts we have made to fight COVID-19 there is still much work to do. We are being bombarded with negativity from different sources of media, which can be detrimental to our health, and we need to do something about it. Nurses are and have always been, in the front lines of care. We must first take care of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health if we want to make a difference in the world. We are not alone in this fight. Stay healthy, stay positive!