POCATELLO, Idaho- Kaela Ghassemieh can thank her grandmother for encouraging her to get into nursing. While she was worried that basketball might derail those goals, her work ethic allowed her to accomplish everything that was put in front of her. Now she is reaping the benefits of her hard work as she is in her seventh year as a labor and delivery nurse.
Ghassemieh, (formerly Kaela Oakes) arrived at Idaho State in 2009 and upon graduating she was a Big Sky Champion, all-conference guard, academic all-district and a nursing school graduate.
"I am very grateful for the athletic and educational experience I received at Idaho State," Ghassemieh said. "I was one of the first student athletes in ISU's nursing program history to actively play a sport and complete the nursing program at the same time. I am very grateful for my nursing professors who were flexible and worked with my hectic schedule and encouraged me on and off the court."
Ghassemieh also credited Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski for playing a big role in helping Ghassemieh have the success she had.
"He was one of the only coaches I was recruited by that stated I could play basketball in college and attend nursing school at the same time," she said. "It was not easy to accomplish both, but my coaches and teammates were supportive every step of the way. The people in Pocatello are what make ISU such a special place and Idaho State will always have a special place in my heart."
Ghassemieh finished nursing school in May of 2013 and quickly started at a high-risk labor and delivery unit in Mesa, Ariz. In 2015 she and her husband, former Bengal football player Brennan Ghassemieh, moved to California where she started working at another high-risk labor and delivery facility in Newport Beach, Calif.
Ghassemieh said she originally wanted to work in the operating room when she was in nursing school because she loves surgery.
"I quickly discovered that I would not be as hands on with patient care as I thought I would in that department" Ghassemieh said. "Maternal child health was one of my last rotations in school and I quickly fell in love with the culture of the unit. For the most part, we have young healthy patients with good outcomes. I also love that in labor and delivery there is a great sense of "team"."
Ghassemieh still finds herself in the operation for cesarean sections.
"I think what I like most about labor and delivery is that childbirth is often the most challenging, physically and mentally, days of people's lives," she said. "A day that they remember for the rest of their lives. I love being part of someone's birth story and helping them achieve the most important thing: A healthy mom and a healthy baby."
Since COVID-19 Ghassemieh has seen other challenges that she and her team at work have had to deal with. Every day when she enters the hospital for work she is stopped to have her temperature taken to check for a fever. She now has to wear a surgical mask at all times while in the hospital and during standard delivery she has on a hair cover, face mask, gloves, and eye protection.
"We are provided hospital issued scrubs and jackets so if those become soiled, we change our scrubs immediately," Ghassemieh said. "For a suspected COVID patient or positive COVID patient we are required to wear a protective gown over our scrubs, hair cover, N95 face mask or a "Capr hood", gloves, and eye protection."
Ghassemieh said that the biggest adjustment for health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic is "being in a state of hyper awareness and constantly having to adapt as policies and procedures and standards of care are changing day by day on a national level. We are all just trying our best to provide the safest and best care to our patients and to protect ourselves with the resources we have provided."
One thing became evident to Ghassemieh early in her nursing career and that was her time as a student-athlete at Idaho State dramatically affected her professional career.
"When I first started nursing, I felt better prepared for the workload and demands of the job compared to my peers who were in the new grad training program with me," Ghassemieh said. "I felt like after playing basketball in college AND going to nursing school at the same time, it was going to take a lot to ruffle my feathers. I often have coworkers who comment on my sense of calm, proactive awareness, and ability to multitask while on the job."
