Maria McGurrin joined Wood River Health as a pediatric nurse practitioner in June. McGurrin has worked in several clinical and nonclinical settings, including pediatric primary care clinics, schools, community health centers and remote care management.
McGurrin earned a bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College in anthropology with a focus on physical and medical anthropological practice. She has also received her master’s and doctorate degrees in pediatric nursing practice from Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions, according to Wood River.
PBN: How does your background prepare you for your position as a pediatric nurse practitioner at Wood River Health?
MCGURRIN: I think my background has given me a good perspective on all the gaps in health care. I’ve seen how easy it can be for a family to fall through the cracks if they don’t have an advocate. I’ve spent my entire career working in rural communities and I know firsthand how difficult it can be for families to access care when the nearest children’s hospital is over an hour away. It’s also given me a perspective on all the ways the American health care system can be stacked against the average person to make it both extremely expensive and inaccessible.
PBN: What are your top priorities in your new role and how much have you accomplished so far?
MCGURRIN: My top priorities are improving immunization, developmental and lead screening rates. My goal is to build relationships with families in the local community. I’m a perfectionist, so I will always think we could do better, and I would like immunizations and screening rates for children in the community to continue their upward trend since the dip we experienced in 2020.
PBN: What are the recent trends you’ve noticed in providing pediatric care?
MCGURRIN: I’ve noticed two things. One is that each flu season since 2020 seems worse than the last with more sick and hospitalized kids diagnosed with preventable diseases.
The second thing I’ve noticed is more suspicion and distrust around vaccines than ever before. It’s so difficult when you have a schedule full of sick children struggling to breathe, and you walk into the next room to talk to a parent who thinks vaccines such as chicken pox, flu and RSV [respiratory syncytial virus] are actively harmful.
I try to be as nonjudgmental as possible, but it’s heartbreaking. I think a lot of us have lost perspective on just how damaging and difficult some of these infectious diseases can be on the body.
PBN: You’ve worked in both clinical and nonclinical settings, in what ways have you noticed the different environments affect how patients respond to care?
MCGURRIN: Clinical settings put patients on edge, especially kids. It’s much easier to see how a kid is developing and socializing in a nonclinical setting. Everyone sitting in a room waiting for their doctor is anxious with a higher heart rate, higher blood pressure and more discomfort. We make every effort at Wood River to make sure our pediatric patients are as comfortable as possible by supplying books, art supplies and stickers.
PBN: What challenges remain for treating pediatric patients who are affected by infectious diseases in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic?
MCGURRIN: Children get sick often and when they do get sick, they can get very sick very quickly. It’s difficult for parents, it’s difficult for the providers who see them.
In the wake of COVID, I think there’s a lot of misinformation spreading about how best to care for a sick child and when to seek care. I want families to know that I would never recommend a treatment or vaccine that I hadn’t thoroughly researched, and I wouldn’t give to my own family member.
Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com.
