Nikki Baur

Nikki Baur ‘06 is a nurse who has courageously stepped up to save lives during the COVID-19 outbreak. She normally works as a team lead nurse at St. Elizabeth Hospital’s cardiac intensive care unit. When St. Elizabeth started receiving COVID-19 patients, Nikki volunteered to be part of the Infectious Disease Response Team, working on the containment and quarantine ICU.

Since her time as a student at Roger Bacon, Nikki has been passionate about helping others and lifting their spirits. She was a cheerleader all four years in high school. “I still remember our fight song routine!” she said. After graduation, she earned her Associate’s degree from Cincinnati State and started working right away. Shortly after, she got her Bachelor’s from Ohio University.

Nikki credits her family, especially her dad, for inspiring her to become a nurse. Her father, a recently-retired firefighter and paramedic for St. Bernard Fire Department, served the community for over 30 years. Nikki said her dad has always been a role model: “I’ve always looked up to him, and so did all my friends. Everyone always comes to him for help—emergency and not—and knew his name. He really inspired and supported me to go into the medical field.”

When concerns about COVID-19 started hitting close to home, Nikki was in California for a friend’s wedding. Her family cut their trip short, and she called her manager right away, asking if she could end her vacation time early to lend a hand at work. When her manager asked if she would come in that night and be part of the Infectious Disease Response Team, Nikki didn’t hesitate. “I of course said yes, hugged my family (for the last time until this is all over) and went to work,” Nikki explained. “I’ve been there working 55-70 hour weeks ever since, and honestly I wouldn’t change a thing.”

When asked what keeps her going through all this, above all, it’s her family. Nikki said, “My family has supported me in every way possible—whether it’s taking care of my son, making me dinners, buy food for our entire nursing team, or just calling to say they love me—it means the world to me. I also have a wonderful support group of friends and family, many who attended Roger Bacon with me! They text or call me regularly to check up on me, send me money to buy myself coffee before a shift. They leave little pick-me-up gifts on my doorstep—including toilet paper when I was too busy to hunt some down! It’s little things like that—they mean so much to me and keep me going every day.”

The other people who keep her going are the patients in the ICU. She knows this is a desperate time for many, as they wait at home wondering how their loved ones are doing, unable to visit the hospital for risk of infection. It’s also about hope and progress. She said, “It’s seeing the patients who make it and come off a ventilator and go home to their families. Knowing I played a part in that, no matter how big or small, is something I can’t describe in words.”

Finally, Nikki wants everyone to remember that she is not alone in this. “I am working alongside some of the most intelligent, caring, dedicated and inspiring people I have ever met. My coworkers—some I just met a month ago when we all joined this team, some from my home Cardiac ICU, and some I’ve met along the way of my nursing career—go above and beyond every day! If you know someone that works for St Elizabeth or in the healthcare field, thank them today. It means more than you think!”

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