[Verified Answer]: Jane Viola has just graduated from nursing…

Jane Viola has just graduated from nursing school at the state university when the COVID-19 pandemic hits her rural city of 100,000 people. An excellent student, Jane has accepted a job at the only hospital in the city. She was promised a mentor for her first year on the job. The pandemic, however, has other plans for her. Thrown onto a floor with little experience and a national shortage of personal protection equipment (PPE), Jane is terrified she will get COVID-19—or worse. Even though Cases in Health Care Management, Second Edition ISBN 9781284537505 CASE 21 Who Will Care for the Caregivers? 5 9 she completed her clinicals at the same hospital, being on her own was different from having a professor to go to with concerns and questions. Now she is it! Every hospital bed is taken, the Emergency Department (ED) has patients in the halls, and she is working 12- to 14-hour shifts without a bathroom or meal break. She lives at home with her parents and doesn’t want to infect them. When she goes home, she strips in the garage, puts her scrubs in a bag outside, and cleans her shoes with bleach. She even has a microwave, a cot, sleeping bag, and heater in the garage so she can minimize their exposure. She goes into the house only to shower and use the toilet and when her parents are in their bedroom with the door closed. Despite all her efforts, her mother becomes infected with COVID-19. With the help of the same hospital where Jane works, her mother survives. At last, the long-awaited vaccines arrive, and life begins to return to normal. Over a year later, however, Jane’s mother has side effects from the disease: shortness of breath, difficulty thinking, fatigue, and daily headaches. To compound matters, Jane’s father has aged badly over the last 14 months, the toll of the pandemic and his wife’s illness. Formerly an active man who walked five miles a day, he retired early just before the pandemic. He and Jane’s mother had planned to travel and enjoy their “golden years.” Now he has difficulty getting out of bed and is unable to care for himself or his wife. When he does get up, he stares at the news on TV all day long. He refuses to see a doctor because he says there is nothing wrong with him. He tells Jane he’s ready to “meet his Maker.” Now, in addition to her full-time nursing job, Jane has two frail parents to care for—and no idea where to find help. When she describes her homelife to a co-worker, Jane’s friend, also a nurse, suggests she should go to human resources (HR) to ask for their assistance. While sympathetic, the Director of HR says their employee assistance plan (EAP) covers only psychological, alcohol, and substance abuse