Ohio State nurse represents America’s health care workers at State of the Union address

Refynd Duro, RN, normally spends her nights clad in navy scrubs working in The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s progressive care unit, where she attends to a wide range of patients.

Their conditions can be anything and everything, ranging from kidney disease to sepsis or surgery recovery to oncology. At the height of the pandemic, the unit was transformed into a COVID-19 care unit where patients on ventilators were given breathing assistance, using high concentrations of oxygen.

But on Tuesday night, Duro donned pearls and a white blouse paired with dark slacks and sat in First Lady Jill Biden’s viewing box in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol. She was one of eight Americans invited as a guest for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.

“I was honored and privileged to be there. It’s just a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m still thinking: Why me? I’m just a nurse in Ohio,” Duro says.

Of these eight hand-picked guests, a White House press release explains, “Each of these individuals, with their resilience, innovation, service, and courage, were chosen by the White House because they represent policies or themes to be addressed by the President in his speech.”

While the president did not single out Duro, she was shown on camera as a guest. Attendees were not masked during the address, but had to be tested to attend.

The president spoke about next steps in the pandemic. Duro was proud to represent frontline workers.

“I wanted our voices to be heard, and I wanted to be there to represent the nurses — not just the nurses, but health care workers and respiratory therapists. They’re not getting the recognition that they deserve,” Duro says.

In the progressive care unit, nurses closely monitor patients for small signs that could lead to a worsening condition and require a move to the intensive care unit. It requires long hours and lots of attention to detail.

“Who’s going to take care of them but us? Who’s going be there at their bedside but nurses? Who’s going to be there holding their hands while they’re taking their last breath? We are. I get emotional talking about it,” Duro says.

On this national stage, she represented nurses, doctors and medical staff across the country who work long hours and make sacrifices during a pandemic prolonged due to mutations and misinformation.

But there’s hope that the pandemic is waning.

“We’re still in this. It’s not 100% gone. But I’m very, very hopeful,” Duro says. “I know springtime is coming and the sun is coming out. I feel like it’s going to be different from last year.”

She was invited to attend through her involvement in the Ohio Nurses Association. She’s spent her 19-year nursing career advocating for bedside nurses and patient safety.

“I think she’s a great representative. She’s kind of the epitome of the experience of a health care professional,” says Brian Williams, a nurse manager on the progressive care unit. “She’s got a young child who she’s stressing about taking care of and making sure that she didn’t get COVID-19 herself and then pass it along to her loved ones. Particularly in the beginning, no one knew what that meant.”