Unsung Hero: Deb Maxwell helps nursing home residents through COVID-19

Nurse practitioner Deb Maxwell was laid off in March when the coronavirus pandemic halted home health visits.

The Massillon resident, who has worked as a nurse for eight years including the last three years as a certified nurse practitioner, already had another job lined up to start in June, so she wasn’t too worried about the loss of income.

She worried about the patients, especially those in nursing homes, who needed her.

Because of her dedication to her patients, Maxwell has been named one of The Canton Repository’s six Unsung Heroes for 2020. (The Massillon Independent and Canton Repository are sister newspapers.)

She agreed to be featured as long as it helped spotlight the hard work of all the men and women giving direct care to nursing home residents.

“I don’t feel like a hero. I feel like I’m just doing my job,” Maxwell said. “I felt like that all along that I’ve just been doing my job. The direct care staff, the aides, the nurses, everybody, they’re here for all of it. They are the heroes. … Every single one of them needs an article written about them.”

Connie Carmany nominated Maxwell.

"She often buys things that her patients need, like a lady who had sores on her feet and wore flip flops all the time because she had no shoes, so Debbie bought her shoes," she wrote in her nomination. "Debbie also goes into the memory care unit and plays the piano for the residents. She said she plays a lot of the old hymns for them because they remember them, so that calms them and they begin singing the hymns. The staff even called her to come and play piano when they were having a rough time with a memory care resident. ... These are only a couple of examples of how she goes above and beyond in letting her patients know someone cares about them."

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In May, Maxwell left her husband and three children, ages 2, 5, and 7, to help a Columbus nursing home facility with an outbreak of COVID-19 cases. The facility was understaffed because so many employees were quarantined, had tested positive for COVID-19 or were scared of the virus that at the time no one knew much about. Many of the assisted living facility’s residents, who previously only needed a little help for daily activities, now needed full-time care to eat, bathe and dress, further straining staffing resources.

Maxwell worked 26 days of 12-hour shifts, filling the roles of RNs, LPNs, nurses' aides and, at times, the cleaning crew.

She and the staff also served as the residents’ lifeline to their families, who were prohibited from visiting due to the pandemic. She would hold the phone or tablet so the residents could see and hear their loved ones. She would give family members medical updates, often trying to explain to them how their loved one is no longer the same person they saw in March.

“Usually a family member would come in and see their loved one and could see them along the long course of decline and they would understand that when they are here to see it,” Maxwell said. “… Explaining that over the phone is really difficult because they can’t see (that decline).”

Maxwell and the staff also made sure that none of the residents died alone. Even though Maxwell had been there only for a few weeks, she already had grown attached to them.

“I always bond,” Maxwell said. “Even if it’s just a day. … I loved them. I love my patients now. COVID has been rough.”

Maxwell, who is employed through Personalized Health Partners, returned to Stark County in June to start her job at Hanover Healthcare Center in Perry Township. The skilled nursing facility saw its first rash of COVID-19 cases in early October.

“It just ripped through with no rhyme or reason,” recalled Maxwell, who made Stark County her home after graduating from Malone University in 2008. “… We felt for a while like a hospital floor. When COVID was really bad, we were providing care at a level that a hospital would otherwise do. But they didn’t have room so they were sending them back and they were still very sick.”

On the first day of the outbreak, Maxwell and the staff worked 16 hours to move residents into different rooms and try to prevent further spread of the virus. She said the facility was much better prepared than assisted living facilities were in May.

“We may have been better prepared treatment-wise, but I still could never have been prepared for the loss,” Maxwell said. “The burden of losing so many, so quickly. I still get emotional about it. These are my friends, these aren’t just my patients, and the staff was really struggling.”

While the number of COVID-19 cases at Hanover has subsided, Maxwell still visits on her days off – often with an armful of flowers for residents. Maxwell obtained her florist license in August.

“It’s something I enjoy and the first thing I thought of was that I could bring joy to other people, too,” she said.

She also brings bouquets for staff, many of whom volunteered to work with COVID-19 patients despite the risks.

“They deserve flowers every day,” Maxwell said.

Reach Kelli at kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.

On Twitter: @kweirREP

Unsung Heroes

The Canton Repository is celebrating six "Unsung Heroes” this week as part of our Moving Our Community Forward and Clayton G. Horn Award of Excellence program. They are regular Stark County residents who give selflessly in the community and deserve recognition for their efforts.

The Repository sought nominations from our readers. A different individual was highlighted each day this week.

These six aren't the only people doing good within Stark County. If you are aware of others who deserve to be celebrated, send an email to newsroom@cantonrep.com.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Unsung Hero: Deb Maxwell helps nursing home residents through COVID-19

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