“Anyone who knows me knows that nursing is my life.” That’s how Lindsey (Stephens) McCoy ’02 responded when she learned that more than a few of her fellow alumni recommended her for a profile about a BC graduate working in healthcare. Anyone who knows Lindsey knows that there’s actually a lot more to her life than her career as a nurse—she’s a dedicated mom, wife, daughter, sister and friend; active volunteer firefighter and EMT with Portage Volunteer Fire Company; and a woman of strong faith.
“I have a few sayings,” Lindsey said. “'Everything happens for a reason. 'Give it to God.' 'Trust in the Lord, he has a plan for us.'” Trusting God’s plan is what ultimately led to her 15-year nursing career and what gets her through the toughest days in her current role as a nurse in the ER at UPMC Altoona.
“I always wanted to be a nurse. In fact, when I was young my pap made me a little, white tin box that said “Nurse Lindsey” on the outside and it was filled with first aid supplies. I was always bandaging people up,” she said. Yet something kept her from initially pursuing this goal and she started college at UPJ as a business major. Then, one day during her freshman year, she said, God called her to apply to the nursing program at Mount Aloysius.
“Honestly, I don’t even really remember applying, I just did it,” Lindsey said. “I knew in my heart business was not for me and I thought, this is ridiculous. Nursing is my calling and, that day, I just finally embraced it.”
Lindsey earned her BSN at The Mount and worked as a floor nurse and in the ER at Conemaugh Hospital. When her son Carter was born, she spent several years working for Senior Life, which gave her more flexibility in her schedule. When Carter started elementary school—he’s now in second grade at Holy Name—she headed back to the ER, this time at UPMC in Altoona.
Heathcare in the time of COVID
At one point during the past year, nearly half the beds at UPMC Altoona were filled with COVID-19 patients, Lindsey said, and it wasn’t uncommon for her to be treating up to five COVID-positive patients at a time during a shift in the ER.
“My thinking has always been, 'if it’s your time to go, it’s your time,'” Lindsey said, “but COVID hit my heart so hard. I had terrible anxiety worrying that I might infect someone from being exposed in the ER. I didn’t want to go anywhere, even wearing a mask and social distancing, because I was so worried about spreading it or about people being concerned when they saw me, knowing that I work in the ER.”
“It was definitely a heightened sense of both anxiety and responsibility,” she continued. “For a while it seemed like, no matter what we did in the ER, no matter how hard we worked, how long we wore our PPE, how we social distanced outside of work, COVID was still spreading, and we couldn’t stop it.”
Every shift involved extra precautions, no matter what brought an individual to the ER, from a sprained ankle to a car accident, Lindsey says there was so much added stress because they had to assume any patient could potentially be infected.
“It can be difficult working in the ER, now we had the constant worry of COVID hanging over it,” she said. “I think the hardest part has been that we are used to fixing people—sending them home better than they arrived. But helping people with COVID is a long process of struggling to find things that work and realizing that most treatments don’t make an immediate difference. I took care of an infant suffering from COVID who had to be transferred to Pittsburgh. That was hard.”
During those times, Lindsey said she thought about her own mortality, wondering if she’d be next, or if she’d lose a family member to COVID. “A lot of people say working in the ER must be hard and my response is that it’s my cross. Everyone has a cross to bear and this is mine. There are days when it’s hard, but I am the type of person who can face these kinds of challenges and still go on with my life. It’s something to bear, but it’s also a gift,” she said.
“Where God wants me to be”
“There are so many things I love about being a nurse, but the biggest thing is that I am an advocate for patients. I treat every patient the way I’d want my family member to be treated in the same situation,” Lindsey said. “There’s no feeling in the world like being part of a team that saved someone’s life. The pandemic made me feel helpless and a little defeated. All of the people I work with every day—doctors, techs, respiratory therapists—so many of them get so little recognition as it is and this situation made it harder, but then there are moments that remind me why I do what I do.”
One of those moments happened recently after Lindsey was having a particular rough week. While escorting a patient to the ICU, the patient expressed some fears about her prognosis and treatment. Lindsey assured her that she was in the very best place that she could be and that she should not worry. They joked a little, then shared a tearful moment before Lindsey went on her way.
“Before I left, she thanked me and she said, ‘I’ll never forget you’” Lindsey said. “I called my mom and dad on the way home, which I do after almost every shift, and I told them I had a special moment with a patient who reminded me why I do what I do. Working in healthcare really gets down to your humanity.”
Lindsey’s advice to students thinking about their careers and the future is pretty simple: pray. “First, I’d say follow your heart. Then, give it to God. Pray for His guidance if you’re unsure. God has a plan for you, you just need to be open to it,” she said. “I still pray for guidance every day, especially in challenging times. I’ll ask God and He’ll remind me, this is where He wants me to be.”
For now, anyway. Lindsey’s life goal is to become a flight nurse and she’s currently working hard (“and praying hard,” she added) to get closer to achieving it.
Values instilled early on shape a fulfilling life
Lindsey, her husband Matthew and their son Carter are all active with the Portage Volunteer Fire Company. Matthew is a deputy chief and Lindsey recently earned her life membership. Carter, she said, knows more about the trucks and equipment than most of the guys. They also stay busy volunteering for Carter’s baseball and football leagues.
Lindsey still keeps in touch with many BC friends, and loves being able keep up with everyone’s life events on Facebook. She’s lucky, she said, to see her high school best friend Steph Hoover Eckenrode ‘01, often because they work together. Steph is an X-Ray technician at UPMC Altoona.
“I feel blessed to have attended BC and I thank my parents for not only giving me the opportunity but also for teaching me good values at home and sending me to a school where they were reinforced,” Lindsey said. “God, love, respect and hard work… I feel like Catholic education truly instills these values early on and they stick with you.”
“From my experience as a mom, it’s a good feeling to put your kid on the bus and know they will be loved at school just as they are loved at home,” she said about Carter’s school, Holy Name. “Teachers at BC loved and cared for us like we were their own. I am who I am and where I am today because of what BC and my parents instilled in me.”