Where is the light?

• I have always been proud to be a nurse •

2020 changed our lives forever. When the country shut down in March, fear spread like wildfire. I went to work and talked to my coworkers on how we could prepare – not only for our patients but for our personal lives as well. We made wills, health care power of attorneys and made sure our wishes were known. We prepared in ways that we could have never imagined.

November hit and that is when we saw our first surge. The surge changed everything. We had to push ourselves in ways we never thought imaginable. Healthcare professionals where working countless hours. IT was helping on the floors, housekeepers where sitting with patients, clinic staff were coming in to assist the hospital anyway possible. It was HARD, but we made it through.

Flash forward to today.

We thought we saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Things started to get back to “normal”. But now, we are surging again but it’s more than just COVID. COVID IS JUST A SLIVER OF THE PUZZLE. We are seeing infections like we have never seen. The common cold is killing people. Heart attacks are more prevalent. Suicide attempts and mental health crisis’ have skyrocketed. These are everyday problems that are not being talked about.

BASIC HEALTH PROBLEMS ARE ATTRIBUTING TO OUR HOSPITALS BEING FULL. IT IS JUST NOT COVID.

So please, PLEASE, take care of yourself. Call your doctor for the cough and runny nose. Call 911 if you have chest pain and can’t breathe. Go to an urgent care if you have had a fever and can’t seem to get it under control or just want to get checked out. But please, PLEASE, do not wait until last minute. Waiting is making you sicker. Waiting is what is filling our hospitals. Waiting is what is killing people.

I cannot speak for all healthcare professionals but this is what I have personally experienced and seen. All we want to do is help. But we can’t help, if you won’t help yourself.