Portland Magazine
Alumni
Nursing
August 27, 2020
by Roya Ghorbani-Elizeh '11
Within the busting halls of a Los Angeles hospital, a popular Beatles song plays over the intercom. The uplifting melody has become an anthem of hope for School of Nursing alum Bailey Saleumvong ’08.
“‘Here Comes the Sun’ would play every time a COVID patient was discharged. As the days would go by, we would hear that song playing over the intercom throughout the day,” he says.
After years of experience in neuroscience, emergency, cardiac, and ICU units, Bailey decided to become a travel nurse. With this job, Bailey gets the opportunity to live and work in different cities and hospitals around the country, but chooses to take jobs primarily in California and Washington.
“I thought to myself, ‘If you never tried to do this, you will regret it later in life.’ I love how I get to live in cities I’ve always wanted to live in, make a ton of nursing friends, and see how hospitals work across the country.”
Currently based in Los Angeles, Bailey is helping treat critically ill patients who are suffering from the virus. Since the pandemic began, Bailey and his fellow nurses have been working tirelessly to help patients and their families through this difficult time.
“It’s been a very stressful time for nurses around the country. When the pandemic started, we didn’t know much about the virus or how much danger we were in caring for these patients. It was a very sobering moment in my career.”
He has also seen signs of hope.
“As time went by, we were able to find what treatments our patients were positively responding to. We were happy to finally send our patients down to the regular units from the ICU,” he says.
Outside of work, Bailey keeps busy by taking classes for a master’s degree in nursing informatics, going on hikes, and adding to his houseplant collection.
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