Meet Emily Shands, a new critical care nurse who volunteered to work in her hospital’s COVID unit less than a year out of nursing school. Emily, an ICU nurse at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, shares how the opportunity to learn and contribute as part of a COVID care team outweighed her fears and pushed her to stretch beyond her “new nurse” comfort zone. She also talks about lessons learned, shifts in perspective, having more autonomy and gaining a deeper appreciation of teamwork.