CHICAGO, IL — In the last month, since Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive stay-at-home order, many Illinois residents who don’t work in health care and other essential roles have been working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, still facing anxiety and using caution to stay safe. Remote workers have time to process the news updates they read or watch from inside the bubble of their homes, all the while mentally preparing for possible exposure to the virus or “what comes next.”
But there are essential workers, specifically nurses, who don’t have time to read daily updates because they are living the news the rest of us read (or write).
Patch spoke with two nurses who each spend at least 12 hours per shift working at major Chicago hospitals. One is an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse, and the other works in the emergency room (ER). They see, hear, feel and take in more than most could ever handle, as the number of positive cases of the coronavirus in Chicago reached over 9,080 Monday afternoon, with 308 deaths. The state’s total number of coronavirus cases is now over 22,000.
“It’s been harder than I ever thought or could have imagined,” the ER nurse told Patch.
They’re learning how to wrangle an entirely new beast; a fatal one at that. If the words “wrangle” and “beast” don’t do it for you when it comes to how powerful the coronavirus is, the ER nurse said her team’s ER workers were never scared taking care of trauma, gunshots, you name it, and always handled whatever came their way. These days, though, the nurse said the coronavirus has “terrified” all of them, because though their responsibilities of patient care haven’t changed, the nurses’ attitudes to approaching these responsibilities has.
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“I used to sprint towards patients to help,” the ER nurse told Patch. “Now, I have to think and be cognizant of every move. If I run towards that patient unprotected, that could mean more exposure to myself, my coworkers, my family, my other patients.
Imagine having to learn to understand the coronavirus at the same time you’re fighting to not let it kill your patients, or your loved ones. That’s what the ER nurse has been trying to do, and told Patch that they’re starting to understand it more.
“We treat and approach all our patients as if they are positive (have the coronavirus,” the ER nurse said, adding that it can affect even a 20-year-old with no previous history of illness.
Patient care responsibilities for the ICU nurse and her team at the other Chicago hospital have also remained the same, but just like the ER nurse said, how the ICU nurse and coworkers normally run their unit and hospital has “drastically changed and continues to change.”
In the units that are only for patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus, the day-to-day has changed ten-fold, according to the ICU nurse, who told Patch there is only one entry point and one exit point in the unit, and they cannot bring any of their things into the unit.
Similarly, the ER nurse said nurses in her unit have really pushed towards clustering our care and minimizing how many times we exit and enter rooms.
Both told Patch they normally work day shift, at least 12 hours at a time. But with different hospitals come different needs.
For the ER nurse, patient care during the coronavirus pandemic means working more than 12 hours at a time, but by choice. But being short-staffed even before the coronavirus pandemic hit meant things were incredibly challenging even on a good day, according to the ER nurse, who said they’ve noticed every nurse putting in extra hours and picking up shifts because they’re a family, and all need to step up and help one another.
The ER nurse asks that people don’t come to the ER unless it’s truly an emergency, because most hospitals won’t test you for the coronavirus unless you are sick and are going to be admitted.
“You may think it’ll be a quick visit, but for every patient we see there is a nurse and doctor charting every intervention preformed, meds that need to be passed, assessments to be performed,” the ER nurse said. “All of this takes time away from the patient next door who is in respiratory distress and decompensated.”
As of last week, the ICU nurse said they’ve been trying to prepare for the peak of the pandemic by discharging non-essential patients and postponing elective surgeries.
“This is leaving us at 60 to 70 percent capacity in the hospital, so we are doing our best to be ready for what is yet to come,” the ICU nurse told Patch. “In the past few days nurses have been re-trained in the ICU to help staff other units and fill any gaps.”
These nurses leave their homes only to be exposed to the coronavirus almost every day, but are worrying about everyone else before themselves.
Both ask that you please take social distancing seriously.
“Please, please, please, if you want to show your support for health care workers, limit who you are seeing to the people in your household,” the ER nurse said. “It’s so disheartening to see friends and family going to ‘hang out’ because it’s only one person, or whatever their excuse may be.
The ICU nurse said her biggest concern is that she will carry the coronavirus home.
“As much PPE, hand washing and sanitizing as we do, this is a new virus, and we are constantly being told things about the route of transmission,” the ICU nurse told Patch. “My biggest fear is I will unknowingly bring it home and pass it to a loved one.”
She also wishes people know the mental toll this is taking on healthcare workers.
“Of course it is taking a mental toll on everyone, but imagine waking up every day and walking into a room and there is someone with this highly contagious disease, and you just hope you don’t contract it or bring it home,” the ICU nurse said. “I find it scary to think about.”
However, on a more positive note, the ICU nurse wants readers to know that people are starting to “do better and are showing signs of recovery.”
“We are even getting to the point of discharging people from the hospital, and that’s what makes this all worth it,” the ICU nurse told Patch. “I am so lucky I have been healthy so far throughout this, and I am so happy I am able to work and make a difference during these crazy times, as stressful as it can be.
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When the ER nurse starts thinking about what’s happening at her place of work, she tries to switch gears.
“I don’t have time to break down,” the ER nurse said. “I don’t have the ability to reflect. My patients need me right now, and I need to be 100 percent clear-headed.”
She tries to remain level-headed by listening to music and going for drives, but won’t go inside anywhere but her home.
“If we are out of groceries or need household supplies I will go in the car with my husband but not leave it,” the ER nurse said. “Seems silly, but its when I’m home alone that my mind starts to reflect on the severity of what is happening … and right now I’m in survival mode.”
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Needless to say, the current “home lives” of those working in healthcare or in another essential field of work are not nearly the same as those who work remotely.
“It’s difficult. I am a very family centered person and not being able to see my siblings, nieces, nephews or parents is extremely hard,” the ICU nurse told Patch, adding that her husband is also exposed to the coronavirus because of his job, and they’ve decided to sleep in separate rooms until this comes to pass, in an effort to reduce the risk of passing it on.
“We want to do everything we can to prevent the spread,” the ICU nurse said.
While these to nurses and healthcare workers continue putting their patients and the public in the forefront of their minds, there are ways you can help support them (in addition to social distancing).
They also want everyone to know that the support they’ve received doesn’t go unnoticed.
According to the ICU nurse, there is not a block she drives down in her neighborhood that doesn’t have a sign of positivity or motivation for health care workers and first responders. She and her husband have also received notes, hand-made masks, other mask donations which she’s brought into work, baked goods and meals
“It is truly heartwarming and makes me so happy I have so many wonderful people and supporters in my life.”
Similarly, the amount of support from family and friends, and the outpouring of love for nurses has helped keep the ER nurse grounded, and not panicked, she told Patch.
“As hard as it has been to see the world go into pandemonium, it’s been an amazing reminder of how humankind come together.”
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