Nursing Alumna Takes Part in ABCNEWS’ Hopkins 24/7
Julie Mattock '01

ABCNEWS aired a six-part documentary titled Hopkins 24/7 during the month of September which chronicled the ins and outs of one of the most prestigious hospitals in America, Johns Hopkins. Megan Quick, College of Nursing class of '98, was a part of the unit that was filmed for this documentary.

"I thought ABCNEWS did a fantastic job," Quick says of the documentary. "At first I was really hesitant because I thought that the videotaping would really interrupt things, but in reality the cameramen and the crew were just fantastic. They were respectful of the families and really took an interest in the patients."

Quick cared for two of the patients that were featured in the series. In episode three, Zach Chamberlin, a 17-year-old lung transplant candidate, and in episode four, Mikey Dunn, a one-year-old in need of a heart transplant. "Zach is an incredible kid and it was great for him to be able to tell the world his story." Quick has been able to keep in contact with Zach via e-mail since his release from the hospital. He currently is working on his autobiography.

Quick also was highly impressed with Mikey Dunn’s family. "His parents were just wonderful," she commented. "They are first-time parents who had a son with a congenital heart defect and needed a heart transplant. The fact that he did get one was a miracle, because it doesn’t always happen. In nursing, work with incredible people and incredible families."

Megan often was in front of the camera when she was working in the Pediatric ICU. She admitted that it was very strange to have the cameras around at first, but eventually the hospital staff and patients got used to them and even developed relationships with the crew. "It was nice to see another side of the doctors talking on television. They are very busy doctors and it was interesting to see them actually sitting down and talking about their work. We don’t get to see that as much because our unit is so busy," remarked Quick.

In addition, ABCNEWS took a very pro-active role in alleviating any problems by setting up offices in the hospital, as well as having weekly meetings with the staff to attend to any concerns they were having. Overall, Quick felt that the documentary series was as accurate as it could be for television. "I don’t think you will ever be able to capture all the emotions in a one- hour time period," she stated.

Currently, there is a terrible shortage of nurses in the medical field, and much of the documentary focused on the doctors of the hospital rather than the nurses. Many people showed their discontent of how ABCNEWS handled this issue on the web site. Quick responded, "I would have liked to have seen a few more nurses featured, but it wasn’t their goal. I was just really happy the patients’ stories were getting out."

There is no doubt that Quick has a sincere interest in the patients and people she works with. Her love for her profession is clear in how passionately she speaks about it. "Nursing is not a glorious job, and it’s not the highest paying job, but you couldn’t pay me more to work with people like this. It’s not a career you go into thinking you’ll just do it for a little while. It’s hard work and it’s very pressing too. I’ve had to learn a lot in the past two years, but I love it. I get to learn and I get to work with incredible physicians and everyone is willing to teach me something."

Quick’s love for learning was also nurtured here at Villanova. She credits Professor Elizabeth Dowdell of the College of Nursing for really impacting her career. "She really challenged me all the time. She always gave me really hard patients because she knew I had been working in the ICU. She was a great professor," said Quick. Even two years later, Quick heeds the advice of her former professor. "I can still hear her saying to us, ‘I want you to really focus on what you are doing. You always want to remember this is somebody’s child.’ Even when I’m doing all my work and everything’s technical, I always remember her saying that," recalled Quick.

During her time at Villanova, Quick went to Kenya for two weeks to assist surgeries on cleft palettes and cleft lips. She had been involved with Operation Smile in high school, and with the help of professor Debbie Wimmer and professor Barbara Ott in the College of Nursing, she and a small group of students started the club at Villanova in 1997. While she was in Kenya, Quick met a nurse who worked at Johns Hopkins and suggested she try the Pediatric ICU -- she’s been there ever since. She noted, "I really love my job, and I’m very blessed to have a job that I love."