Text Only

How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.

Right now due to the coronavirus pandemic my stress is through the roof. As an OB nurse we now are seeing pregnant women that are very sick and in ICU. We’ve had 2 maternal deaths requiring emergency c-sections IN YHE ICU to save the babies. Nurses are not treated well at my facility and are leaving in record numbers only to be replaced by fewer brand new inexperienced nurses and travelers. Those of us still here have to work extra hard to train new staff and keep patients safe. Travelers also need extra training so we do more work and yet they are paid 2-3x what we do. It’s a broken system and for the first time I am afraid. If I or a family member is in the hospital, who is taking care of them? Every unit is short staffed.. now they want to mandate the vaccine which will just make more nurses leave. Outside of work my kids are away from home and I constantly worry about their safety. My extended family here is very divided on the vaccine/mask issue and spending a week with them was not a vacation! I am the only healthcare provider in the family yet no one asks my opinion or first hand knowledge of what’s going on. They choose to listen to mostly unreliable sources instead. And I feel disrespected and sometimes even defeated. I went to a winetasting event outdoors and they required proof of vaccination to get in. Some people didn’t have it and they were very vocal about their opinions. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong but the divisiveness it’s bringing to our world its painful