Are Big City Hospitals Really Getting Hit With COVID-19 Pts?

BSN-to-MSN, ADN, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2020

On 4/14/2020 at 3:41 PM, EPS said:
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.
Thank you!

We are affected here. About 20-something patients in the hospital of a hundred beds, a dedicated unit, and thinking of converting another. It is tiresome to care for these patients, PPE on and off, no way to drink water on the unit or go to the bathroom. The morale is down, nurses are quitting, trying to stay positive for the innocent new grads orienting with me.

Does your wife watch the news? The fact that some areas are "fine" should not take away from the New York situation.

Guest219794 · Apr 18, 2020

33 minutes ago, RN-to- BSN said:
We are affected here. About 20-something patients in the hospital of a hundred beds, a dedicated unit, and thinking of converting another. It is tiresome to care for these patients, PPE on and off, no way to drink water on the unit or go to the bathroom. The morale is down, nurses are quitting, trying to stay positive for the innocent new grads orienting with me.
Does your wife watch the news? The fact that some areas are "fine" should not take away from the New York situation.

Assuming the poster and his wife are real, she would probably believe that the news is part of a democratic conspiracy to defeat trump. There are some really messed up people out there.

OP has been remarkably absent from this thread. He was a first time poster, and posted something controversial that elicited a pretty significant response.

sevensonnets · Apr 18, 2020

I think I said a way back that (new) plus an impossible situation usually means somebody's messin' with us.

thecareerchanger, BSN · Apr 18, 2020

I work in Nassau county NY. 75% of our beds have become covid although there is a slight decrease over past few days. Our 22 bed critical care has been has expanded to 70+; tele has become stepdown and med surg where I work are now tele beds. We have multiple codes per day although there is some decrease and we are discharging more and more patients. Non urgent areas are now covid. We were short on vents, bipaps, hi flows etc. but that may be resolved been off for a few days). I am thankful every shift when a patient doesn't code or get intubated. I get 6 to 8 pts now but a few weeks ago I had 9 and 10 pts. Frontliners are getting sick and ppe is always a struggle. Be thankful you have nothing to comment on!

nrsang97, BSN, RN · Apr 19, 2020

I'm in the SE MI area. Our hospitals are getting hit. Our ICU is overflowing into the ER. We have for now canceled elective procedures. We have intubated up to 3 pateints a shift. Codes thrown in there too. Our inpateint rehab unit is closed and we have those staff redeployed to other areas. We have our ICU pretty much all covid pateints, our 3rd floor, 1/2 of 4th floor, 1/2 5th floor, and all of our 6th floor. Many rapids during a shift.

This is real. It may not have hit your area yet.

AlwaysLearning247, BSN · Apr 19, 2020

Most hospitals in MA are getting hit really hard. One of the small community hospitals I worked at is overflowing with COVID. My old floor is COVID only, they had to make the PACU into an area for COVID as well. I will say, the population in MA hasn’t been taking the virus seriously. I have since moved to another state and it’s not bad here at all, everyone for the most part are social distancing and wearing masks. But I will say that back home, it is a mess! They made a few hospitals COVID only. I know a few people personally who have the virus.

allnurses Guide · Apr 19, 2020

First of all I want to give my heartfelt thanks to al you front line nurses out there who are fighting this thing. You are in my thoughts and prayers everyday.

Now for a Psych perspective - Many have postulated that the OP's wife is delusional and I would agree however it is not uncommon for a person to face something they find terrifying with disbelief. In Psych we call this magical thinking. "If I don't believe it, it can't be true. Therefore it cannot hurt me or the people I love." Delusions are interesting as the person suffering from them is considered to be "Out of contact with reality, Such a person cannot be convinced even with real verifiable facts. One of my mentors used to tell me you can't have a rational discussion with an irrational person. I could tell you some real stories but would most likely get fired for HIPAA violations so will keep mum.

In my own situation I am truly blessed as we have not had a single symptomatic or confirmed case of COVID-19 in our facility. Because we are a stand alone psych hospital with no acute medical services we locked down early and hard. Still I know what others are going through out there.

To the OP - People react to what they don't understand in predictable ways unfortunately you have learned what happens on public forums where some of those predictable ways are to react with shock, anger and disgust. If under normal situations you wife is a generally lucid person this particular delusion might go away on it's own as the larger situation resolves. If on the other hand she tends toward believing in conspiracy theories in general and engages in delusional thinking often she might need a consult with a psychiatrist and therapy to boot.

Good luck to you.

Hppy

RNNPICU, BSN, RN · Apr 19, 2020

Hppy:

Thank you for this great perspective. These times are very unusual and have caused a huge disruption to the daily routine. The desire to have some sort of typical routine is seen everywhere. . Many people are turning off the news because it is too depressing or nothing is changing and we are in this time warp. All of us have been impacted in some way due to COVID.

CraggyPhenominalSoup · Apr 19, 2020

I work in LTC. I got Covid from a resident. I feel like I am dying. This is real and painful and the scariest thing I have ever experienced. It comes in waives and wears you down. My bones hurt, I keep spiking crazy temps. I'm dizzy. Then I am freezing. All this with sharp leg pains and feeling like I can't breathe. The only reason I am up is because I hurt so bad I can't sleep.

Guest219794 · Apr 19, 2020

On 4/18/2020 at 9:13 PM, hppygr8ful said:
First of all I want to give my heartfelt thanks to al you front line nurses out there who are fighting this thing. You are in my thoughts and prayers everyday.
Now for a Psych perspective - Many have postulated that the OP's wife is delusional and I would agree however it is not uncommon for a person to face something they find terrifying with disbelief. In Psych we call this magical thinking. "If I don't believe it, it can't be true. Therefore it cannot hurt me or the people I love." Delusions are interesting as the person suffering from them is considered to be "Out of contact with reality, Such a person cannot be convinced even with real verifiable facts. One of my mentors used to tell me you can't have a rational discussion with an irrational person. I could tell you some real stories but would most likely get fired for HIPAA violations so will keep mum.
In my own situation I am truly blessed as we have not had a single symptomatic or confirmed case of COVID-19 in our facility. Because we are a stand alone psych hospital with no acute medical services we locked down early and hard. Still I know what others are going through out there.
to the OP - People react to what they don't understand in predictable ways unfortunately you have learned what happens on public forums where some of those predictable ways are to react with shock, anger and disgust. If under normal situations you wife is a generally lucid person this particular delusion might go away on it's own as the larger situation resolves. If on the other hand she tends toward believing in conspiracy theories in general and engages in delusional thinking often she might need a consult with a psychiatrist and therapy to boot.
Good luck to you.
Hppy

Well written, though I think we may be talking about a fictional character.

Though I have some skepticism about the first time poster who posted a doozie and disappeared shortly after, I think bringing up the subject of Covid deniers is worth it.

I don't think that for most of them, this is a defense mechanism against something they fear. I think it is part of a political/mental schema. For example, I would hazard a bet that most Covid deniers also think that climate change is a hoax, which is certainly not based on their fear of climate change. I think that if you were to gather a group of Covid deniers, you would find many other commonalities in their belief systems. For example, no doubt a large number of them probably use and believe the term "deep state".

I think (hope) we are going to learn a lot about this country when this is over. I very much hope that when this is over, we, as a country, are able to remember who downplayed or denied this catastrophe.

I think there is another group of Covid deniers who are not delusional. These are educated people who know better who capitalize on the delusions of less educated folks. Pundits and politicians who deny the science behind mitigating this catastrophe. They embrace science and expertise in other areas of their lives. For example, their financial investments in oil or real estate are entirely based on similar scientific modeling to epidemic modelling. None of them are building resorts at sea level right now.

But, playing to the delusional and conspiracy theorists sells air time or garners votes. They know better, but their bread and butter comes from duping the gullible.

I got some interesting perspective on this from a couple articles worth a look.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/02/landon-spradlin-coronavirus-pandemic-death-punchline/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-science-deniers-turn-to-attacking-coronavirus-models/

While it is easy for us, as a nursing community, to be frustrated or angered by Covid deniers, we should learn what we can about them. Where do they get their information, who supports their delusions, what else do they believe. Understanding this will help us reshape the future. Ignoring this will cause us to repeat the past.

Quick edit/disclaimer after re-reading this: I am not trying to start a climate change debate, or a political debate. It is just that when trying to learn about the perspective of Covid deniers, it is hard to get around certain commonalities and trends.

CraggyPhenominalSoup · Apr 19, 2020

Yes I am a first time poster. I've been a lurker for years. I'm not sure if you are talking about the op or me. I am a RN and I am angry right now that people continue to deny this thing exists. I have been working over 100 hours a week up until I nearly passed out at work because people keep calling in because they are scared. And after experiencing it myself, I don't blame them.

toomuchbaloney · Apr 19, 2020

On 4/15/2020 at 2:27 AM, rebecpar said:
SummerGarden, are you saying that your hospital is getting hit hard by the virus? The OP is asking a genuine question and that’s the question you should be answering. Yes, there are propagandists on both sides, unfortunately.

Examples of the two kinds of propaganda on this issue please...