I'm almost embarrassed to post this... I am an ED nurse at a 450-bed hospital in the midwest. We have not been taxed by COVID patients yet. My wife has become somewhat of a conspiracy theorist and is questioning everything. She found a thread somewhere that convinced her that what we are seeing on TV is not really happening. We have had some serious arguments about this stuff, but she won't stop. She said that lots of nurses were reporting that nothing was happening at their hospitals.
I would like to see if any of the nurses from the hospitals that are being seriously affected are on this forum and can comment. I realize that most of you are probably too exhausted to even get on a forum.
Aren't you seeing the other threads on allnurses.com that talk about the supplies not available, getting sent home for wearing your own mask, nurses quitting due to the risk they're being put under? There were tons if comments on these. Also, check out the NNU videos on Youtube..they'll let you know what's happening!
Not seeing much activity at my hospital system in Southeast PA. I understand that many of you have seen a lot with this but there really isn't a need to be rude toward this man's wife whom we know nothing about. This man was asking an honest question to colleagues and he gets his wife insulted. Perhaps he simply wanted facts from nurses so he could show his wife what is going on elsewhere. You are correct in saying that just because one doesn't experience something first hand doesn't mean it doesn't exist. However, it is easier to believe something if you hear it from someone you trust. That's what (I think) he was trying to do - get facts from people he trusts.
A couple of thoughts.
This was a first time poster posting a really controversial post that elicited emotional reactions. That is the hallmark of what some people refer to as a "troll". I don't mean that in a derogatory sense, that is what a troll is in modern social media.
As far as his wife, assuming she is real- The OP described a delusional person. He even mentioned her conspiracy theories, which, if believed, are delusions. While people may have been offended by her, I don't think she was insulted.
Even if she was- imagine going into a Jewish group and explaining that your wife thought the holocaust was a hoax, and expecting an entirely civil response.
He had access to literally thousands of first hand reports, yet he went through the trouble of starting an account jut to have some to show his wife. Does that ring true to you?
Specializes in Currently wound care, passion in SCI..
Thank you for your comment about my comment. I understand what you're saying about "trolls." I hadn't thought of that but you may have a point. I only took it at face value that he was honestly looking for input. ? I have also seen dozens of different accounts, as we probably all have, regarding the severity of the entire situation. It's just a wild thing I think we are all trying to wrap our heads around no matter which way we look at it, how it directly impacts us, what it means to the economy being totally shut down, what it means to society as a whole, and on and on to all the details both seen and unseen.
ER Nurse (and also surge Rapid Response Team Nurse)here in Queens, NY reporting first hand that this has been an overwhelming and horrible tide of suffering and death in our hospitals.
Our hospital had to expand into every available space turning whole floors into covid units, the PACU and ASU and IR into ICUs, refrigerated trucks outside to manage the corpses. We had to open a tent to try and slow the massive tide into the ER at one point, sending home people who were sick but that seemed like they could manage at home. Some of those people ended up back in the ER, then ended up vented, then ended up dead. This virus has taken so much from so many here, and so quickly. And no these are not all sickly or old people, we have had some young, and even pregnant stories, and many many ppl in their late 40's and 50's with no previous health problems. It's awful.
Just this past week the numbers of admissions for covid through our ER have started to dip. Good news. And that's because New Yorkers rock and are serious and have bravely practiced the difficult social distancing that has started to flatten our curve and finally has our R0 down to 0.9. Social distancing works and will continue to work when practiced in any community that sees a surge. If covid never affects your wife's community well good for her but if it does let NYC and Washington state be examples of how social distancing helps.
That huge bolus of pts that passed through our ER over the past 6 weeks is still being managed on the floors and in the units and I am seeing A LOT of death. It's horrible. I've only been a nurse for 9 years and the battle-tested 30 yr nurse veterans are all expressing their amazement and grief, never have they seen anything like this. And while the good news is the numbers are down, they are not even close to zero!! Most pts coming in the ER are still covid pts. At least the sound of ambulances is not constant in my neighborhood anymore...another sign.....
I'd LOVE to speak to your wife and give her the details if she thinks this is BS. My heart s broken for all the pts I am seeing every shift struggling to breathe, struggling to stay alive. Of course the snapshot will be different in every municipality, USA is a big country, but we, as a country, have lost, and will continue to lose a lot of our wonderful citizens...this is far from over.
Stay safe, stay strong all my fellow nurses, the stuff I've seen since March is not for the faint of heart. ?⛑️
Specializes in Family Med, Adolescent Health, Lactation, Teaching.
I’m in NYC. I am no longer at bedside but I have been in touch with people at my old hospital. She said that there are basically ICU beds all over the hospital, and patient beds in the atrium where I used to eat lunch. She is an infectious disease doc and she no longer sees all the covid patients because they’re far too many for the ID team to see. At the hospital near where I live I’ve seen big trucks outside to hold the dead bodies because the morgue fills up too fast. I’ve heard from friends who work in labor and delivery that they hear codes being called over and over and over again during each shift. I read in the paper that in addition to all the hundreds dying daily inpatient there’s been many DOA. One friend who lives in a pretty small building (maybe 6 families? Not sure) has had a few cases in her building including one death. As an NP I’ve done telephone visits with people at home, many of whom are sick for weeks on end. When I tell them to go to the ER (which I generally don’t) they are very hesitant to do so. It’s started to slow down here - we peaked about two weeks ago. I think only a little under 400 deaths yesterday.
Yes. Seattle's hospitals got hit. My downtown hospital's ICU still has Covid-positive patients. One area was converted to Covid-only to protect the non-Covid patients. Our EDs got swamped. A nurse friend was admitted with Covid. Young patients (think 30s-40s) are admitted to the ICUs with Covid and fighting.for.their.lives. This is not a joke, nor a conspiracy. And it's not over yet.
I live in Michigan. I found this site a little over a week ago on a news site. Prior I would ask my supervisor once or twice a week what hospital census is....
This site isn’t updated daily. But it’s been updated a couple times since I bookmarked the link.
Does anyone else’s state have a web link like us?
ascension, Beaumont, dmc, Henry ford are large Detroit/metro Detroit hospitals.
Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.
900+ bed hospital and we have 4 dedicated units for Covid. 1 ICU, 1 Peds, 2 pulm. Predicted peak of 50 pts but have not reached that. Average is 40-45 per day. I think our ICU/vent capability is 22 plus what is in the ED.
I live in Michigan. I found this site a little over a week ago on a news site. Prior I would ask my supervisor once or twice a week what hospital census is....
This site isn’t updated daily. But it’s been updated a couple times since I bookmarked the link.
Does anyone else’s state have a web link like us?
ascension, Beaumont, dmc, Henry ford are large Detroit/metro Detroit hospitals.
Every state and separately Major cities with the states have publicly available websites ran by their respective heath departments that reports to the CDC.
Which is why it’s outrageous that anyone would doubt the impact, when the statistics are readily available. If only people where genuinely interested in truth and facts vs conspiracy theories.??♀️
Our city has been the third most cases in Texas and my hospital has had around 20 since mid April. Never slammed. We stopped elective surgeries and shut down a whole unit. We are a smaller hospital, so maybe they're going somewhere else?
My full-time job is in one of the major cities in the state. I was floated once to the Covid19 rule-out unit but otherwise it has been uneventful, except for low census in the hospital. At my PRN job in a small, rural hospital today I have my first patient with a positive Covid19 result. She is 98, stayed at this hospital because she didn't want to be intubated if it came to that, and she has recovered remarkably well. Interesting times.
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savedbygrace67
81 Posts
Aren't you seeing the other threads on allnurses.com that talk about the supplies not available, getting sent home for wearing your own mask, nurses quitting due to the risk they're being put under? There were tons if comments on these. Also, check out the NNU videos on Youtube..they'll let you know what's happening!