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From: Andreas Bardell, Amanda Hällsten
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This spring, the country’s medical personnel described the fight against the coronavirus as a war.
Now they are standing there again, at the same time that many live as usual outside the walls of intensive care.
– There is no respect for this virus, and it is very difficult to see, says nurse assistant Catrin Henricsson.
For several weeks in the spring, Aftonbladet’s Andreas Bardell visited emergency rooms and intensive care units at hospitals across the country.
Wearing protective masks and protective gear that left deep wounds during long work shifts, health professionals fought for months against the new coronavirus. Then summer came, and the light and the number of IVA cases decreased, until many intensive care units were empty of covid patients.
Sometime in the fall, the second wave arrived, and for a few weeks now, care staff have been struggling again to care for patients who fell ill with covid-19.
Photo: Andreas Bardell
Catrin Henricsson, 28 years old.
“Many have become depressed”
Catrin Henricsson, 28, an assistant nurse in the Södersjukhuset VAT ward in Stockholm, says that many members of the care staff now experience symptoms similar to those of post-traumatic stress disorder.
– It’s hard, many of us feel a lot of stress and have felt bad since last spring. Many have become depressed. He’s still there. The sessions will be very heavy and difficult, because you get flashbacks of spring, says Catrin.
Catrin says that she and many of her colleagues often wonder how long they will be able to work, as the number of covid patients admitted to VAT rooms in Stockholm increases.
– You think a lot about how other people behave in society. That people don’t care, that there are a lot of people moving. There is no respect for this virus and it is very difficult to see, says Catrin.
I had needed more recovery
Angelica Enqvist, 35, an intensive care nurse practitioner and elected representative of the Care Association at Södersjukhuset in Stockholm, agrees with that image.
– We were prepared for a second wave when we saw that the number of patients increased in Europe, but at the same time we hoped that it would not happen here. Yesterday we received an email that there is only one VAT seat left in Stockholm, says Angélica.
He speaks of the fatigue that exists among the care personnel, and says that many experience a lot of anxiety, feel stress, suffer from depression and that a large number have been sick due to illness.
This spring, the occupancy rate in the country’s VAT rooms was higher than now, but the fatigue remains and Angelica says the care staff needed more recovery than the four weeks of vacation they received.
Photo: Andreas Bardell
Angelica Enqvist, 35 years old.
More knowledge than last spring
She says the patients who are admitted for covid care in the Södersjukhuset intensive care unit are of mixed ages, with both previously healthy people and multiple illnesses admitted, but mostly men.
– You must understand the severity of this disease, it is very scary and unpleasant and affects so many different people. You can’t think that that doesn’t affect me, because everyone can be truly affected, young and old and healthy and sick, says Angelica.
But unlike when healthcare professionals battled the virus this spring, there is more knowledge about the virus and how patients should be treated.
– We know more about the virus now and we have learned a lot about how to care for patients who are admitted, says Angélica.
Anxiety before Christmas
Both Catrin and Angélica express their concern about the upcoming Christmas weekend. After Aftonbladet has contacted both of them, Angelica sends an SMS.
You can also write that I think you have to follow the recommendations of the Public Health Agency and now at Christmas is not the time to let go and relax … or think that “yes but it does not affect me.” I am at work now. It’s a fight and we have to stop it, please. ”
Photo: ANDREAS BARDELL
Stock Photography.
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