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The changes are long and the scenes are heartbreaking inside a hospital in Maryland, a US state. USA, where doctors and nurses have been treating coronavirus patients for weeks, unable to allow family members to visit loved ones on their deathbed
One of the most difficult times of a recent work day for nurse Julia Trainor was to intubate a patient and then call her husband so that he could speak to his wife. He was not allowed to enter the hospital.
“I had to put him on the phone and put the phone close to his ear so he could tell her that he loved her, and then wipe her tears away,” said Trainor, who works in the surgical intensive care unit. “I am used to seeing very sick patients and I am used to seeing patients die, but none of that.”
Trainor called the patient’s husband so the couple could speak
Image: Rosem Morton – April 8, 2020 / Reuters
The highly contagious covid-19 disease, caused by the new coronavirus, has infected more than 825,000 people across the United States and has killed more than 45,000 as of today.
In Maryland, where residents have been ordered to stay home from March 30 to stop the spread of the disease, there are about 12,000 confirmed cases of the virus, and more than 580 people died this morning.
After completing what for many was a 12-hour shift, some hospital doctors and nurses shared with Reuters the most difficult times of their day. The hospital asked not to be identified.
Employees agreed that one of the most difficult parts of the job, more than the hard journey or adjusting to work in a new room, was witnessing the impact on patients and family members.
Due to the hospital’s policy of not allowing visits, which was adopted to prevent further spread of the virus, doctors and nurses must attend to the medical needs of patients and offer all possible emotional support in the absence of their families.
The most difficult moment during the shift was watching covid-19 patients die unaided and without family members by their side.
Ernest Capadngan, nurse in the biocontainment unit of the hospital.
Communication with families has been a heavy burden on hospital staff. They cannot relax the rules that prohibit visitors, even when a family calls desperately.
“A patient fell out of bed today and I had to call his wife to inform him that I couldn’t go see him, even though he begged him to come,” said Tracey Wilson, a 53-year-old nurse.
The nurse had to say that the wife was unable to see her husband in the hospital.
Image: Rosem Morton – April 3, 2020 / Reuters
“One of the most difficult times was seeing a relative of a greedy patient say goodbye on the iPad,” said Tiffany Fare, 25, a nurse from the biocontainment unit. “You can’t see your loved one and then he dies.”
Farewell by iPad was one of the difficult times Fare experienced
Image: Rosem Morton – April 6, 2020 / Reuters
There are very few opportunities to rest during a shift, although colleagues take care of themselves and try to cover themselves when someone needs a break.
Cheryll Mack, 46, an emergency nurse, said she tries to take a 15-minute break during the day to breathe. “It gives me relief, some fresh air,” said Mack.
“The spread of covid-19 has affected many livelihoods, many people’s lives. It has created a crisis, deaths in general. Therefore, I would like to ask not one person individually, but people from all over the world, to join the platform that this is something that no one can fight alone, “Mack said.
Mack tries to take breaks on the trip to get some “fresh air”
Image: Rosem Morton – April 10, 2020 / Reuters
Each shift ends with a similar decontamination procedure. Doctors and nurses should remove protective equipment and shower immediately before contacting family members at home.
“I take a very hot and long shower. Then I usually sit on the couch and … read a book or watch some silly reality show to de-stress me,” said Martine Bell, 41, a nurse.
“The hardest thing about all of this has been taking care of healthcare partners. It really hits us and it’s really scary when you see someone who might come and start taking care of them. We also started to realize that when people take care of Health is starting to get sick, who will take care of the public? “Bell said.
Nurse Bell: “The hardest part of all this has been taking care of other health workers”
Image: Rosem Morton – April 6, 2020 / Reuters
Laura Bontempo, an emergency doctor, said she took off her clothes and equipment at a decontamination store she launched outside her home, then wrapped herself in a towel and ran to the shower.
Then she puts the laundry alone in the washing machine to avoid contaminating other parts.
Bontempo installed a “decontamination tent” outside his home
Image: Rosem Morton – April 5, 2020 / Reuters
Meghan Sheehan, a 27-year-old nurse, said she drives home every night without turning on the radio and uses the moment in silence to reflect on her shift and her patients. When he gets home, he tries hard not to keep thinking about his day.
“I go home, I shower immediately and I try to have dinner with my family, and I try not to talk about it,” he said.
“Nights are often the most difficult time, because you keep thinking about what the next day will bring.”
Sheehan avoids turning on the radio when driving home
Image: Rosem Morton – April 6, 2020 / Reuters
Kimberly Bowers, 44, a nurse caring for covid-19 patients in an intensive care unit (ICU), poses for a photo after a 13-hour shift. “The most difficult time was when a young woman died and the family could not be here with her,” said Bowers. “I think it is frustrating and terrifying at the moment not knowing what will happen next.”
Bowers: “It is frustrating and scary not knowing what will happen next”
Image: Rosem Morton – April 2, 2020 / Reuters
Dr. Kyle Fischer, 35, an emergency room physician who cares for patients with covid-19, poses for a photo after a 12-hour shift. “As it is a new virus, we have no experience with it. For most diseases, I am used to seeing and treating them, but in this case, I don’t know where to start. I know what I know about New York, I read all articles about it but nobody knows what the right answers are so there is a lot of uncertainty and people are very very sick making it difficult to know if you are doing the right thing or not when you think you are but you never know for sure, “Fischer said.
Fischer says “it is difficult to know if you are doing the right thing or not”
Image: Rosem Morton – April 10, 2020 / Reuters
Kaitlyn Martiniano, 25, a nurse working in a biocontainment unit with covid-19 patients, poses for a photo after a 12 ½ hour shift. “We have a lot of patients and we are very sick right now, but they haven’t hit us as much as New York or Seattle yet, so I feel very lucky so far. You have to be optimistic every day,” Martiniano said. “I think the reason they haven’t hit us that hard is because a lot of things are closed and because a lot of people stay home.”
“Every day you have to stay optimistic,” said Martiniano
Image: Rosem Morton – April 12, 2020 / Reuters
Jacqueline Hamil, 30, a nurse caring for covid-19 patients in an emergency room, poses for a photo after a 12-hour shift.
“The most difficult time of my shift today; I was in charge, we had a very sick patient who was in a very, very small room, and when we have very sick patients, we have a ton of resources and a lot of people who come in and help the nurses and doctors caring for that patient. But since the patient apparently did not have coronavirus, we could only have five or six people at a time, wearing aprons, gloves, masks, and face shields to protect ourselves if he actually had the coronavirus, which takes time, so the nurse who was there ended up staying in the room for 6, 7 hours, with minimal breaks. It was difficult to be in charge and know she was trapped in the room, without me she could do anything to help her “said Amíl.
Challenges faced by colleagues marked Amíl
Image: Rosem Morton – April 6, 2020 / Reuters
Lisa Mehring, 45, a nurse working in a biocontainment unit with covid-19 patients, poses for a photo after a 12 ½ hour shift. “Seeing these new mothers having babies was the most difficult time. In addition to facing childbirth and not being able to be with their newborn children, it is difficult to think about the family they are losing,” said Mehring.
“Seeing these new mothers having babies was the most difficult time,” said Mehring.
Image: Rosem Morton – April 2, 2020 / Reuters
