by Leta Lohrmeyer
There are 304, 826 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, according to the CDC. Three hundred and sixty-seven positive cases are in Nebraska. In order to slow the spread of the virus, people across the country are now finding ways to social distance, including working from home.
If possible, businesses are sending employees home to work. UNO students, Kyla Stauffer and her fiancé Blake Vaught have transitioned both their jobs and schoolwork into an online platform.
“It’s actually not as bad as I anticipated,” said Stauffer, an office assistant at the UNO Writing Center. “I’m not able to work face-to-face with clients, which is a challenge, because it’s sometimes easier to help them in person. Overall, it’s just more of the online stuff we did in person but none of the physical interaction that we did in the center.”
Kyla Stauffer, a UNO Writing Center office assistant, says there were some challenges transitioning online, but it was much easier than she originally anticipated.
Stauffer created a makeshift office at the kitchen table, where she responds to clients’ emails and answers calls. But just five feet away, tucked in the privacy of the bedroom, Blake Vaught sits at a desk that can just fit two computer screens. There he maintains his work for the Nebraska Cancer Specialists in the research department.
“I am a data coordinator, so what I do is I work on the breast cancer trials, a few advanced malignancies, and some non-therapeutic trials,” Vaught said.
When he works, no one can come in and look at his screen, due to HIPAA regulations. Vaught said there are some challenges to his online transition.
“There are a lot of physical documents due to privacy laws that we can’t always have electronically or that we don’t normally have electronically,” said Vaught. “So, basically one of the big challenges I’m facing right now is that it’s a lot slower going. If there are some data that I need that isn’t available electronically, I have to contact a nurse in order to make those documents HIPAA compliant.”
Both Vaught and Stauffer are doing their best to keep a routine and balance their daily workload. So, after emails are sent, phone calls answered and homework completed, this couple switches from back from work mode to normal life.
The number one thing they cited to keep them from getting bored when in isolation is watching Netflix.
“’Grey’s Anatomy,’” I have been bingeing that,” said Stauffer. “I have gotten to almost season nine in about 20 days.”
