Frustrations with COVID surge;how to deal.

[BirdieBird, BSN]

COVID. Over the last six months, our campus has seen very little of this nasty little virus that we all know as COVID 19. So much so that the powers that be allowed us to unmask for a brief period- two days to be exact. Oh gosh, the smiles that followed this announcement and practice change could not be matched. My eyes tear up at the images that cross through my mind as I watched staff bear their full faces to our resident population for the first time in over two years. It was such a joyful moment, a moment that signified such progress in our battle against this illness. I really felt hope. My mistake. Two days later, transmission rate went back up and masks were back up. That was too bad. I feel such sorrow over what happened. Complete outbreak status ensued about 4 days later. Room after room was set up with PPE and quarantine was implemented for many. Many residents understood, some did not. The hardest were my cognitively impaired residents. Some believed we were holding them against their will, some just exit/entered their apartments with constant reminders from staff of quarantine. In short, as we all know, it's hard. And that's all I have to say to all of you nurses out there; this is hard. I'm thankful that the strain this year is nowhere near as virulent as past strains, don't doubt that. However, I myself contracted the little bugger this time around- first timer here. I didn't like it, I feel as though I failed somewhere in the mix to have landed my tookus here in my home office doing all I can from home (county contacts, state correspondence, nurse guidance, etc). But even I know this can happen to anyone, including me. The hardest part is not being able to be there, helping my staff, caring for my residents, reassuring families, just all the little things we nurses do to help on a daily basis. How have other nurses dealt with this guilt? Any comments or thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.