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1851. NDNU Blog Opening Doors. Engaging Minds since 1851. Leave a Comment Updated on November 20, 2020 Fernanda Bueno, Esq. by NDNU Alumni One alumna’s journey from immigrant to fighter and advocate for an underrepresented group that is challenged even more so since COVID-19. Fernanda Bueno, Esq. ’11 Born in Brazil, Fernanda Bueno immigrated to the United States at the age of 16. She facedevery hardship expected as a foreigner and non-English speaker, which motivated her to help other immigrants have an easier journey than she did. She now leads a team of immigration warriors, fighting tirelessly for victims of domestic violence, the LGBTQ community, and refugees. She speaks loudly for those who do not have a voice, and stands tall between her clients and the deportation machine. Hear her story… How COVID-19 has affected my field The immigration field has been hit hard by COVID-19. Most of our clients are from the Latino community and considered essential workers, which means that a lot of them were exposed to the virus and eventually tested positive. We had to close our physical office, send our employees home, and do all of our work remotely because we still had to honor our deadlines for client eligibility. This change was especially challenging because many of our clients are indigenous, have no access to any sort of technology, or simply live in a crowded environment where it becomes impossible to have a confidential conversation. A lot of them are unable to read, which makes emailing or texting impossible. Many do not have a computer or a smartphone, so even simple things like sending a picture of a document were challenging. Additionally, this administration’s response to COVID-19 was to essentially shut down our borders and stop the issuance of documents that had been previously approved. This placed an immediate hold on our family cases and all of our clients who had been waiting for employment authorization or a green card. So clients who had been waiting for years for a chance to come in legally were now told that they were banned until further notice. We have been blindsided by several changes in immigration law recently, and we’ve had to work around the clock to push our cases through before our clients became ineligible for immigration benefits. This was especially hard because clients were not allowed to come in physically, and our team was not able to work as fast as we needed to. Clients lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and were afraid of asking for any unemployment benefits because, earlier this year, we had a new public charge rule come into effect. This rule essentially punishes any immigrants who have applied for a public benefit. Under this rule, being unemployed is also a heavy negative factor, which unfortunately became a challenge for most of our clients. Our clients were sick, unemployed, unable to ask for any financial help, unable to meet with their attorney to prepare their case, and forced to magically meet deadlines before this administration changed the rules on us yet again. Internally, dealing with the constant changes in the law while handling a full caseload and surviving a global pandemic definitely took a toll on our team. What my NDNU experience meant to me and my career When I came to NDNU , I had recently moved from my home country of Brazil, and NDNU became the only home that I knew. It was at NDNU that I learned English, formed my political opinions, and discovered that helping my immigrant community was my calling in life. Had I not been encouraged by my advisor, the magnificent Stephen Cole , to read the Amnesty International magazines outside of his office, I might not have become an immigration attorney. His ability to recognize that inclination in me has allowed me to touch the lives of thousands of people. I was also taught by Ali Ferdowsi that, as members of a community, we become co-responsible for the well-being of all. That we must speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves in times of need, and that remaining quiet, though comfortable, is rarely the right thing to do. Every now and then in my profession, I am given a choice between doing a mediocre job and working a lot harder to become excellent. It is because of my NDNU education that I have always chosen excellency. Favorite memory from NDNU During my first year at NDNU, my English was extremely limited and I spoke with a heavy accent, which made me incredibly self-conscious. One day, I met with Professor Ferdowsi (also an immigrant) and I mispronounced a word, and he gently corrected my pronunciation. I immediately fell back on my chair drowning in shame. Seeing that I was uncomfortable, he said don’t be ashamed. The fact that you have an accent means that you speak more than one language. And the more languages you speak, the more I like you.” That was a defining moment for me. A moment of acceptance and camaraderie that allowed me to become unafraid and unapologetic about who I was. – Fernanda Bueno, Esq. ’11 Follow her on social: @buenoimmigration @buenolawoffice Leave a Comment Updated on June 1, 2020 Improving Patient Care and Safety during COVID-19: A Note from Patrice Callagy by NDNU Alumni Prepared for Disaster: How Drive-Though Treatment Garages Improved Emergency Care As the Executive Director of Stanford Health Care (SHC) Emergency Services, I’ve been immersed in making sure SHC continues to provide best-in-class healthcare, preserve public confidence in us, and maintain staff and patient safety throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, SHC regularly conducted disaster simulations with both our pediatric and adult Emergency Departments (EDs) which include infectious agents. Because of our commitment to preparedness, we were poised to deal with the initial surge in patients at the EDs that was associated with an evolving, worldwide pandemic. NDNU Alumna Patrice Callagy ’83, ’91 with staff from Stanford Health Care Emergency Services Strong, interdisciplinary working relationships between the various departments is one of our strengths, as is adaptability and innovation. Because these foundations were already deeply ingrained in our core, we were able to quickly meet the many, various demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key to our success was the seamless working relationships between ED nursing. MD leadership and staff. All of this was put to the test in the early days of the pandemic when, as an example, we needed robust protocols to safely, efficiently and effectively identify and segregate potential COVID-19 patients from non COVID-19 patients seeking emergency care. My role included forming multiple, interdisciplinary committees as we met the workflow and practice challenges caused by COVID-19. I was pleased that SHC and other healthcare facilities relied on a 2009 publication I co-authored about a drive-through treatment garage, and SHC’s disaster simulation that validated the feasibility of the drive-through treatment garage. Our 2009 simulation demonstrated that a drive-through treatment garage could be quickly implemented during a pandemic to segregate patients, increase social distancing and increase capacity to meet patient surges. At the beginning of COVID-19, I fielded numerous calls from other healthcare facilities wanting to implement a drive-through treatment garage or something similar. Lessons learned in that 2009 simulation enabled us to safely implement a COVID-19 garage drive-through care area within just 12 hours of identifying an increase in our ED patients. Because of our early preparation for the garage drive-through system, patients presenting to our ED remained safely in their cars while a nurse provided the triage, treatment and care, and an ED physician provided a telemedicine video visit. Our drive-through treatment garage enabled us to reduce the length of stay to an average of 25 minutes for the patients seen through the garage care area, which significantly increased patient...