Working on COVID front lines sharpened �������� graduate’s resolve

Growing up in Jamaica, where affordable health insurance was out of reach, J’Adore Larosa-Mattis gained a perspective that defines his outlook as a healthcare professional.

His grandfather, a lifelong smoker, was dying of lung cancer. His family didn’t have the financial resources for proper medical treatment. But, as Larosa-Mattis realized, there was still a way to ensure this difficult moment had meaning.

“He was in great pain, but just being there for him during his final moments in whatever way we could showed me how, even when there’s not much you can do for someone, simply being present in the moment accomplishes more than you realize,” he says. “That experience fueled my passion for nursing, and that philosophy continues to guide me in the care I provide to my patients today.”

Larosa-Mattis, a vascular surgery nurse practitioner at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, graduated in May with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from ��������’s Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences. But that’s just a snapshot of his ever-widening role in the healthcare profession:

• Historian for the National Black Nurses Association
• Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine
• Advocate at the state and national levels for eliminating healthcare disparities and improving access to care
• Volunteer professor at the University of Haiti, teaching online nursing courses to students who cannot afford tuition

While he was drawn to �������� to earn his DNP because of its strong academic reputation, he discovered that Decker has created a community where every student feels empowered to succeed.

“I’ll never forget the look in my mother’s eyes when she knew she couldn’t afford to finance my education,” Larosa-Mattis says. “I know what it’s like to grow up in a poor household with big dreams, and the determination it takes to make them a reality. That’s why, wherever there’s a need, I’m more than willing to step in and help however I can.”

His first major test of that resolve came with the COVID-19 pandemic. When cases began to pour in, Larosa-Mattis spent three months in a hotel, keeping away from his husband and their child to prevent unintentional spread.

He FaceTimed with them each day, but grueling hours of uncertainty and loss of life led Larosa-Mattis to keep a daily journal. Writing helped process the chaos around him and preserve his sense of purpose.

The first entry was addressed to his then 2½-year-old son: I’m sorry that I’m not able to be with you tonight. It’s going to be the first of many nights. But as hard as it is, the reason is to keep you safe.

“When you lose a patient, it’s something that stays with you. At the height of the pandemic, we were losing three, maybe five patients per day, but we still had to find a way to keep going,” he says. “For every patient who passed away in my unit, before we moved on to the next, I would tell my colleagues that regardless of their religious beliefs, I was sure they wouldn’t want to transition alone. We would pray for that patient together, which helped build team morale when we needed it most.”

Could the next generation of healthcare workers face such a challenge, should an outbreak on the scale of COVID strike again? Larosa-Mattis believes so.

In his judgment, those who worked on the front lines emerged having learned all the right lessons, which he’s determined to keep sharing with students and new colleagues.

He teaches them how to be prepared for new medical problems. He shows them how to endure the strain when a patient’s condition is beyond their ability to improve. And, he repeats the simple philosophy that has guided him throughout his career: Be present in the moment.