CORVALLIS, Ore. – From racing on the cross country course and the rubber on the track to running around the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., battling the pandemic, Logan Griffis knows how to sacrifice his own comfort for someone else’s benefit.
“The uncomfortable feeling of running a cross country race compares to sweating through PPE [personal protective equipment] while running around the COVID ICU for a 12-hour shift,” said Griffis on how being a student-athlete prepared him for his current role. “If I am able to sacrifice some of my own comfort for someone else’s benefit, I believe that is a sacrifice that everyone should be willing to do. Just like in a race, my discomfort during a race for my team’s benefit in the end, it’s extremely rewarding.”
Less than five years ago, Griffis was a cross country and track student-athlete at Northwest University and earned CCC All-Academic honors before graduating with a degree in nursing in 2017. Now, he is a Critical Care Registered Nurse in a medical intensive care unit in Minnesota doing his part to help fight the corona virus.
“Working in the COVID-19 ICU at a regional hospital has been completely eye opening,” said Griffis. “Each day at work I see the sickest of the sick COVID patients, most of which are the most complex cases, and most are under the age of 65. We are still learning so much about this young, novel virus and it is concerning to see people not take this illness seriously. COVID-19 has completely stretched our critical care practice and healthcare systems across the country.”
While there have been a lot of negatives to come from the virus, Griffis has seen some positives.
“In healthcare, I have seen more and more people coming together to work hard for the needs of these extremely sick patients,” said Griffis. “It is a scary illness, but if it is caught early and with the early initiation of therapies and patients advocates speaking up, there have been many lives saved.”
Griffis knows there’s still work to be done with the virus, but he also believes everyone can do their part in fighting it.
“COVID-19 is a new young virus, each day we continue to learn about this illness and no one is invincible, regardless of your age/health,” said Griffis. “Please do as much as you can to keep yourself and your family safe. Don’t politicize the response to a virus, and please wear a mask! If I can wear one for 12-hours straight, you can wear one to the grocery store.”