At an early age, I knew that I wanted to become a nurse. I remember being in elementary school and taking care of the other kids when they got hurt on the playground. When I graduated high school, my late grandmother encouraged me to pursue a degree in nursing. At the time, it wasn’t required of nurses like it is today, but she knew that someday it would be. She had been a nurse herself, one of the first nurse practitioners at the hospital she worked at many decades ago.
More than 24 years as a nurse and seven years at Riverside couldn’t have prepared me for the onslaught of COVID-19. I have seen patients ranging in age from newborns to seniors, some who are near-death and others who are overwhelmed by it all. The hardest part for me is seeing patients isolated from their support systems, so I make it a point to step in to be the support they need.
I tell them I’m glad they came to the hospital when they weren’t feeling well and that we are doing everything we can to make them comfortable, including monitoring their vital signs. It doesn’t change their condition, but it puts them at ease to know that we really care, that I really care.
With each new wave of cases, the emergency room becomes more crowded. We often have to shift patients between rooms to accommodate everyone. And while some patients do test positive for COVID, many don’t. We have heard almost everything be deemed a COVID symptom by patients wanting to get tested. And still needing treatment are “normal” cases like cardiac patients and children with injuries or lacerations.
I’m there so much that there’s a joke that I’m part-time at 60 hours a week.
When my husband, also a nurse at Riverside, began to notice symptoms of the virus, I was worried. We were working the same shift at Riverside and carpooling together. And we have children at home. When he and two of our children tested positive, we decided they would quarantine in our camper in the front yard. Luckily, my tests have come back negative. I truly believe it’s the vaccine that has kept me safe. I’m hoping that with the beginning of the vaccines, we will be able to get back to semi-normal.
I’m a people person and I miss being around people. I miss seeing smiles on faces. People who can get the vaccine absolutely should. Those who can’t should continue to wear their masks, wash their hands and stay home. As the virus can often be asymptomatic, I recommend taking precaution if you’ve been exposed to it, even if you don’t notice any symptoms. Those who need help should reach out for it. And if you can do small things like have your groceries brought to your car instead of shopping in-store, you can help stop the spread.
