A nurse in Florida...

[babylonsister]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2574290199342867&set=a.121865277918717&type=3&theater
Aleixandrea Macias
6 April ·

I haven't posted a true update in days because I could not find anything positive to say. I tried since Thursday to change my perspective and be a ray of light in this dark time, but I just keep being beat down. I have never seen anything like this before, never taken care of someone that is so healthy but at the same time so deathly sick. I've been working in a makeshift ICU for days now because there were no other nurses to staff the area. There are not enough staff even though we get new people daily, not enough experienced staff (because who on earth can be experienced for this level of sick?!), not enough supplies.

I can't count the times I have heard "well we could try and do this but we don't have this". I'm not an ICU nurse at all, but neither is hardly anyone else working these units now. I've told Julio Macias 2 days in a row that I want to come home. But he talks me back off the edge each time because he knows how much I would regret leaving because at this point anybody at all helps. So I'm still here. Day 11 is done.

Of course we can't share patient info, but being in an ICU setting I am keeping my same patients day after day until they die. No one has left our unit yet except in a body bag. I've struggled to find my purpose being here, but strangely enough Julio knew why before I ever did. I have been translating Spanish for days for these people, in my own broken Spanish because anything is better than them understanding nothing. I've seen patients arrive on our unit not yet sedated or vented but in extreme respiratory distress and beyond frightened. I have explained what COVID is doing to their body, what the risks are of being intubated vs not, and I have listened as these people have called their family members for the very last time prior to being intubated. If I can leave here with anything at all, I can know that I helped give them those last moments with their family.

After they are sedated, their personal belongings are still there. Their phones still ring. That's the worst is listening to the phones ring knowing someone is calling and praying they will answer just one more time. These people are not old. They are young. Many with no medical problems. Strong people, physically fit. One who even worked 5 jobs at a time until Covid ravaged his body. This virus kills people. They all die at some point, it's just been a game of seeing how long we can keep them half alive. I feel like our efforts are futile, but I still try so hard and get so upset because I know that if it were Julio or anyone in my family laying there I would want the same done.

When their bodies finally give up fighting, we place them in a body bag. I've seen hundreds of people die as a nurse, but they are usually surrounded with loved ones or we give family time to see them to say their goodbyes. Not with COVID. There is no closure for anyone in this. I can't explain to you how bad this hurts, how real this is, and how afraid I am knowing that it could get like this in my own hometowns. I can't make you guys do anything, but I am literally begging you to listen to us healthcare workers and take this seriously. My heart hurts so bad tonight for these families who have lost people entirely too soon, for those who are sick and absolutely terrified, and for all of us who will surely have some form of PTSD after this is over.

[malaise]

1. No words

[questionseverything]

7. shocking

from her letter

in an ICU setting I am keeping my same patients day after day until they die. No one has left our unit yet except in a body bag.

////////////////////

no one is recovering? how can that be?

[malaise]

8. That silenced me

[questionseverything]

12. i thought i had read that half that went on ventilators where recovering

which would be bad enough, but that everyone in her icu is dying is a different story

[malaise]

17. I'd like to see the data re survival rate on ventilators

What a mess

[questionseverything]

19. me too

I am not claiming to be a doc or any thing but if no one is living after being ventilated, then we need to try other remedies

that cnn guy that has c19 was on talking about how when he felt the worst was when he needed to get up and MAKE his lungs work,is there something to that compared to the ventilators or is this one report out of one icu an outlier?

[malaise]

20. We need the DU docs to weigh in

I know very little about this

[questionseverything]

22. i wish we had docs and scientists in charge of this nationally

that is what I miss most about Obama, knowing he would put experts in charge because his ego wasn't so fragile (like the current occupant)

[Eyeball_Kid]

26. I saw some stats a day or so ago. It's around 45-55%...

...of those who must go on a ventilator, die. Not good odds.

I'm not able to remember a link or resource.

[peggysue2]

24. The current national percent (from what I've read)

Is a mere 20-30% survival rate once you go on a vent. Which is why so many people are loathe to go to the hospital. One of the markers for this virus is you can appear to be doing moderately well, then nosedive to critical status.

Grim.

[Eyeball_Kid]

27. I remember it to be higher, but no matter the number, it's grim or worse. n/t

[Warpy]

28. At some point there has to be a change in protocol

Putting people over 65, especially those with comorbidities like COPD or heart disease, on a vent in an ICU is prolonging death, not saving lives. Italy wisely changed their protocols and so should we.

Young people who have been ill enough to be intubated and put on a vent are surviving but with severe lung damage. They have a chance to heal at least some of it. Old folks don't.

Florida has a large retiree population. Eventually this nurse is likely to see a severe case in a young person and that person will survive. As long as they're intubating people who would be better served by a comfortable death without machinery, this is going to be the reality there.

FWIW, I'm over 70. I don't want heroics. They won't work.

[questionseverything]

32. you make a good point about the age thing

about why this icu could be having worse outcomes than average, probably an older patient population

[thucythucy]

36. Except this nurse says explicitly "these are not old people"

At least some of them are young people who seem otherwise perfectly healthy, or were healthy only days ago.

I'm wondering if we're not dealing with more than one condition here. I wonder if the original virus is mutating so that different outcomes occur depending on the particular strain.

It's still too early to know definitely precisely what we're dealing with here. It may be months before we have definite answers as to what is really happening now with this virus.

[Warpy]

42. Since it's an RNA virus, that is certainly possible

but so far, they're isolating the same strain from patients with widely different disease courses.

That's a problem with any emerging disease, there's just too much we don't know about it.

We still don't know why some people with the 1918 flu had a rapid, fulminating course that ended in a very fast death. Oh, we have a working theory of a cytokine storm, but no one knows for certain why that happened to some but not all. The flu virus had not mutated within the year.

The knowledge of human immunology is going to expand rapidly. It will have to. With climate change progressing, this is unlikely to be the last or even the worst emerging virus.

As for the nurse's young patient population, add 10 years to what is generally taken as young for just "not old." Florida is an odd place and I spent quite a bit of time there after my parents retired.

[47of74]

40. I'm 44 and I told my local hospitals

If it comes down to me or someone else save the other person. Just make me comfortable.

You all feel free to look down your noses at me for that.

[thucythucy]

46. Well, it's your decision and a courageous one at that.

I wonder though, if it's a choice between your life, and the life of some "this was all a hoax but it's really the fault of the gays and Trump was sent by God and abortion is murder" Maga-maniac, would you really want to sacrifice the rest of your life (possibly thirty years or more) for theirs?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I rather think you'd be the one worth saving.

[47of74]

47. Well two points

First it would likely at least score some points with the big guy upstairs for me to do that.

Second I’d get to see my grandparents, aunts, and uncles again. Between all of them I have a century’s worth of euchre games to catch up on.

[thucythucy]

48. I see your point.

On the other hand, the reunion for which you long would only be delayed, not prevented And in the grand scheme of a creation more than eleven billion years old and counting, and the eternity to come, a few decades here and there would hardly seem to matter.

In any case, best wishes to you and yours.

[iamateacher]

2. Heartbreaking

But what a wonderful nurse...

[lpbk2713]

3. My daughter is a nurse at a mid-sized Central Florida hospital.

I worry every day for her. Most of the time I think it's just a matter of time.

[malaise]

9. Must be doubly hard to process

[lpbk2713]

15. Thanks M.

She's a single mother and she would be bringing it home to two sons.

[malaise]

18. You don't plan for this when we choose a career

Must be quite stressful for all of you.

[smirkymonkey]

4. K&R

[onecaliberal]

5. :

[oasis]

6. Sadder than sad. nt

[blitzen]

10. And yet Florida reports 13 deaths total yesterday? n/t

[questionseverything]

13. something not adding up

n/t

[babylonsister]

23. I have 309 deaths in FL...still low comparitively...

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/96dd742462124fa0b38ddedb9b25e429

[blitzen]

41. 13 for the 24 hour period, reported this morning. n/t

[MoonlitKnight]

11. Meanwhile at other hospitals in Florida

They are cutting hours and sending staff home.

If only we had a system where you had someone in charge coordinating things like this. You know presiding over actions...what would we call that job? Or maybe someone at the state level in government who would govern things like this...what title would we give that?

[Eyeball_Kid]

29. I'm guessing that Florida's peak stats are further off than NY or NJ.

So it might be expected that the death numbers are lower, but in the process of rising.

[gibraltar72]

30. In Michigan also but it is the specialty departments that are being laid off

We are now a rural hotspot Lots of staff was cut last week as no electives are taking place. One whole floor was joint and ortho.

[questionseverything]

33. the hospitals are bleeding money right now w/o the elective surgeries takiing place

st François announced the execs were taking pay cuts first

https://www.rrstar.com/news/20200407/osf-healthcare-announces-plans-to-furlough-some-employees

Top executives there will also take salary reductions of between 5% and 10%, OSF said in a news release.

“Inpatient services, surgeries, clinic and OSF Urgo volumes have decreased significantly over the last three weeks as non-essential services have been shut down and our communities are staying home to reduce the spread of the virus,” the statement read in part. “Our revenue has dropped substantially over that same time period.”

Those who will be required to take time off include “non-patient-facing” employees. Those who will be furloughed without pay will be able to apply for enhanced unemployment benefits and will also keep their health insurance and other benefits, OSF stated.

/////////////////////////

osf does wonderful work here in central illinois

[SheltieLover]

14. K&R

[Hekate]

16. Ahhhhh

[keithbvadu2]

21. These are the people Trump accuses of stealing protective eqt and supplies.

These are the people Trump accuses of stealing protective eqt and supplies.

[RustyWheels]

25. Another Nurse in South Florida Concurs

One of my wife's closest childhood friends is a nurse here in South Florida, and has been speaking with my wife daily to help cope... She relates a very similar story. Very frustrating and sad to hear, and she definitely blames tRump and the Republican idiot governor moRon DeSantis for the very unnecessary loss of life that is here now and will continue in Florida.

[Flaleftist]

31. My wife has lost a few patients over her career.

It definitely takes a toll. These nurses are dealing with it on a constant basis now. Maybe some kind of program to assist in counseling be considered, maybe a hotline for medical workers with volunteer therapists working the lines. That is if they even have the time for it between working and sleeping. Some are even staying away from their families out of fear of bringing the virus home. The psychological toll must be extremely high.

[SergeStorms]

34. The phones of dead patients....

still ringing. Will this heinous virus ever go away?

[mountain grammy]

35. Thank you.

We'll drown in our tears. Trump must resign. He's a madman.

[Tucker08087]

37. I just can't.

I can’t even read this without stopping after every paragraph to cry. The strength of these people to carry on day after day, putting their lives on the line and knowing how the end looks, is just monumental. I don’t know how they do it. 😢

[BigDemVoter]

38. I am a nurse too.

And a crime has been and is being committed against the American public, and the public has EVERY right to know just what's going on behind the doors of the hospitals. . . . Shocking beyond words and the feeling of being betrayed by our government is too upsetting to even talk about right now. As a healthcare worker, we both know how the public is getting screwed (if being killed is equivalent to that). . . It is beyond appalling, and I know exactly whom to blame.

[certainot]

44. spread the blame. while it's natural to blame trump theres an opportunity for americans to

actually hit them where it counts before the election - which we can't count on

the crime boss is being aided by a gang on radio stations licensed to operate in the public interest but instead they're following the ignorant shithead limbaugh in telling massive audiences in every state that its a hoax used to attack trump and force socialist big govt solutions -

it is a major crime that radio stations licensed to operate in the public interest have been selling that bullshit for 2 months and now when it's clear they fucked up will just phase into blaming democratic politicians, health care workers, etc.

like blaming the PPE shortages on obama because he raised taxes on medical manufacturers so they went offshore......

- with still no feedback that station advertisers have to notice, and all endorsed by 87 + universities

[mcar]

39. Oh my

[central scrutinizer]

43. Here's another eyewitness account

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213255411

[Liberty Belle]

45. Why are some cities doing so much better at getting people to survive than others?

Of San Diego County’s 785 known cases, 316 (20.7%) have required hospitalization and 122 (8%) of the total number of cases had to be placed in intensive care. 36 (2.4%) have died.

That means nearly 3/4 of those in intensive care are still alive and some have been released from hospitals,
including two Democratic party officials.

We do have enough ventilators so far, and hospital staff is probably not as overwhelmed Other that that, what is different here than these other places?

Maybe it's because we have teaching hospitals. Or maybe San Diegans tend to be fitter, with a good climate and people who exercise a lot and tend not to be obese or smoke. Maybe there are experimental treatments being tried; we do have biotech companies here that are working on cures and vaccines but to my knowledge nothing is yet ready. Or maybe some parts of the country are getting mutated and worse strains.

I would like to see survival stats by hospital and by region.

I would also like to see a study of thousands who survived without going to a hospital. Is there any common pattern of what they did at home or was it just luck of the draw?

[blueinredohio]

49. Bless every one of theses people

When this is over I hope these health care workers are never forgotten.