Coronavirus / COVID-19 Nurse Survey: The Outbreak Continues

[NurseB.MN]

At work things are changing everyday. I personally work on a surgical specialties floor where all elective surgeries have been canceled. We take the overflow medical patients and emergency surgeries. With that our census is very low. Yesterday I had two patients the whole 12 hour shift. Now today I am a screener at one of the hospital doors for another 12 hour shift. As of now it just seems like a waiting game until the virus spreads and every floor has it. I am grateful for my position now but anxious for the time coming and the unknown. I wish I was doing more and could help the ones overwhelmed by the positive cases and rule out patients.

[HaleH]

I am working at WI hospital as a CNA on a floor with rule out patients. Last night I thankfully only cared for 7 patients, half my normal census for my shift, due to cancellation of all elective procedures and transition to all COVID-19 patients in next few days. But, the RN's are burnt out. Some have unknowingly cared for positive COVID-19 patients without PPE due to our ER erroneously sending them to recover without testing them for common COVID-19 symptoms present. How to properly don and doff PPE changes frequently. I accidentally stepped my foot into a rule-out patient's room yesterday without a gown/gloves. Door was only slightly ajar, my entire body was still outside his door just to be able to hand off supplies. (RN called me to drop off wipes and chuks and I forgot I needed a gown but because the CDC now only recommends worker quarantine if showing symptoms, I must report to work and wear a mask at all times). We are only allowed 1 surgical mask entire shift. I still don't understand how to properly place or remove it from a urine sample bag we are using to place them in without contaminating my gloved hands. Some staff say to fold it with the outside on the outside. Others say to fold it like a hotdog with the inside of the mask on the outside and then insert into the bag. And, leave the bag open. Everyone is frustrated.

[IDNP]

sharing an article titled "unmasking the truth: CDC AND HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION ARE ENDANGERING ALL OF US

Quote

COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, but nowhere feels quite as surreal as the frontline of healthcare in America. Healthcare workers everywhere have been too shocked or fearful of retaliation to expose the risks that we, and by consequence, all of you, are currently facing. It’s time for the dirty secrets and inconvenient truths of what is really happening behind the scenes to come to light.

Full article: https://medium.com/@CynicalXennial/unmasking-the-truth-cdc-and-hospital-administrators-are-endangering-us-all-b601012f81be

[Miriam_the_nurse, BSN, MSN, RN]

The facility I work at prepares for the worst. An increasing number of patients will need a ventilator but we have limited resources - like every other facility. Patients who are COVID + and get better cannot leave to another facility for rehab.

I am dreading the day when the ventilators will be triaged - and I think we are there soon. Anxiety is increasing among staff - concerns for our own health as well as the health of our families. As usual, concerns from staff are being down-played.

[Catchfriday]

In lockdown in Spain third week in Alicante.
Two weeks ago went on Covid19 register in UK and they want me to come out of retirement to help them - whoever thought of this? It isn’t so simple back on register, I will only return to the UK with my wife she is a Filipino Citizen with Spanish Residency- it is impossible to apply for a spousal visa for here online without biometrics. It ain’t going to happen is it?

[clumsychicken]

Any of my fellow nurses work in a rural area? If so how does it look your way? Whats your thoughts on how covid will effect rural areas? I live in a rural Appalachian Ohio. I work in a small rural hospital that holds 8 ICU patients and 36 medsurg patients. We turned half of the medsurg unit into the covid hall which holds rule out and positive patients. we haven't had any positives in the hospital but do have positives and 1 death for the county. As everyone else describes the calm before the storm, I can say that I agree with that as being the general vibe. My hospital has supplied surgical mask upon entering the building to any employee who would like one. That is our mask for the entire shift. We are also screening temperatures, recycling N95 mask for send out cleaning and offering refresher courses on vents and paralytic medications. Our supplies is locked and no one really has any idea how much we have as its supplied just one box at a time.

Being in a rural area there are some advantages to being spread out and not living in close quarters when compared to bigger or inner citys. However, being a small rural hospital, we don't have the resources such as an intensivist, a pulmologist, infectious disease or nephrologist. We typically transport patients who need these resources to the city where resources are more plentiful. The nearest city is about 65 to 70 miles in all directions.Transfers have been put on hold, so we are keeping these patients without the specialist they need. Our influx of patients have not been covid but rather the patients that we can longer transport out. The increase in capacity in bigger hospitals has a trickle down effect to the smaller branches of the health system. Historically speaking, illness and disease always tends to effect the poverished regions differently and a lot of that is due to access to healthcare. I can see how lack of access to healthcare not only for those who have covid but for any disease can prove to be problematic in my region. Appalachian ohio is a very poverished area and I see the challenges for rural areas to be effected a little bit differently. This region is also the home to many coal miners with a high prevalence of black lung and obese children with diabetes which is alarming.

Despite these disadvantages, my community has really come forward with helping with food donation, supplies donation and offering many cabin rental and air B and B to healthcare workers who need quarantined but don't want to go home and risk their family. many of our church services are drive up services and many of the locals are using telephone tree system to assist the elderly in our population with grocery delivery. Trying to see the silver lining in all this and grateful that people do want to work together rather the attitude of "each to his own".

[AbstracRN, BSN, CNA, RN]

I work in TICU and just spent 3 days in the BCU. We had to keep calling them to stock the donning room. We kept running out of necessary PPE and just had to go without. They are bioquelling our N95 mask, no lie I went to put one on and it had makeup leftover from the previous user. The other thing was no one wanted to do their jobs. I get it that everyone is scared but we still have a job to do. I didn't ask to be sent to the BCU. But I was and I had to still do my job. The x-ray tech was complaining that they felt like they had to do too many xrays. And that their boss cursed out the doctor. And this is one of the most sweetest most accommodating doctors. I was shocked because my patients xray was worse. It's like they don't know that these patients have to be monitored. Then pharmacy, I had a patient that needed every 30min doses of Ativan we told pharmacy we needed more as there was only one dose left. They never came. Fax machine was not working and IT was like we'll walk you through it. We needed supplies for the patient and the house supervisor was like I'm not coming down there it'll have to wait until the morning. And on top of that there is no offer to pay us more for working there.?

[JTNK]

I would just like to say that this pandemic has really changed my view of thinking. I currently work in a nursing home, and decided to get tested because of where I work and the symptoms I was experiencing. I have not gotten the results back yet, and have to quarantine until I do. In my opinion the nursing homes are especially vulnerable to this disease because all the residents there have some form of comorbidity. Even as this is true, the facility I work for is accepting new residents into the facility without being tested, we have no way to isolate residents if they do have the virus, and we have poor PPE to combat the virus if it does enter the facility. The workers are coming in sick and without being tested. The facility does screen the workers as they enter the building, but I have seen quite a few employees enter the facility with flu like symptoms. I think it should be mandatory for all workers in these type of facilities to be tested, does anyone else have any other ideas?

[clumsychicken]

I work in a hospital and often send patients to nursing home for rehab or placement. The nursing homes in my areas are requesting a negative covid result before accepting patient. This has been an issue at one point because test are so limited, but each week it seems like testing availability and speed of results are getting better. There are times when its not medically necessary to do a test, for example if a patient fell and broke their hip and needs ECF placement after hip surgery. More than likely a covid test will not be performed on this patient.

The only other idea I have would be to keep residents that are coming from a hospital in a private room with a reversed fan In the window. Use extra precautions on this patient for the first week to see if symptoms develop. Perhaps any patient from the hospital gets a 2 week quarantine automatically. No dinning with other residents. No group time spent in TV room.

[Nur-se R0cky3]

As a Covid-19 + nurse, it's very challenging to manage my symptoms and leave work when every healthcare personnel are needed. I have been in quarantine since Mar.18 when I spiked a fever of 102.5 and started showing symptoms. I have tried to document all that I have experienced even my trip to the ER due to O2 Sat that I couldn't mange to bring up from 92%. I am here to help answer myths and hear say about the COVID-19 as I have lived and battled with the virus. My prayers to our fellow warriors in the frontlines. God Bless and protect us all.

Nur-se R0cky3

[clumsychicken]

please share your experience!