You are not invincible to this virus.
Yesterday I sat down to write my nursing shift note at the only computer available; the one outside the window of a deceased patients’ room. The body still lay there, and I could see it out of the corner of my eye as I charted. I wanted to get up and find another space, but I forced myself to stay because I want to remember what COVID-19 looks like; what this virus does to people. It does not discriminate on age, sex, orientation, socioeconomic status, or comorbidities. It’s coming for all of us, and we need to take it VERY seriously, lest it get the better of us.
After five years as a bedside nurse, having a front row seat to death’s destruction, I looked at this patient, not disturbed or disgusted, but heartbroken that this patient passed on without the presence of loved ones. It’s one thing to watch a person die, I’ve sadly seen it too many times to count. But to die alone….that’s different. Family is not permitted on the unit, even chaplains aren’t allowed in. It is just us and them. As I sat there, I prayed to God that this person went home to be with Christ. Because I figured if I didn’t pray over the body in this moment, no one else could.
People are dying. And while the tally increases on your television screens as you watch the nightly news, I don’t think you really comprehend what that means. People are dying. People who had years left to spend with their spouses, with their children, with their grandchildren, prior to this pandemic. People who had hopes and dreams, retirement trips planned, life experiences still awaiting, ChickFilA sandwiches left to eat. What is just a number on a screen to you is a physical body to me, and to all healthcare professionals across the country. We see what you can’t see. And while part of me wishes that you could, I’m glad that we take that burden on for you. I only hope that maybe by hearing this you will grasp the reality of the situation at hand.
People are dying. They’re dying without loved ones by their side. And the very real reality is that in the next wave of people to contract COVID-19 you could be the one that doesn’t make it. Or it could be your family member. Or it could be me.
Social Distance, please.
Stay home to protect yourself. Stay home to protect your family. Stay home to protect your elderly neighbor. Stay home to protect your healthcare staff. Stay home to protect your future. Stay home to protect me.
Stay home, please.
Do not gather with people who do not live in your household. Do not make excessive trips out. Do not go to the grocery store multiple times a week (I know it's hard, this foodie eats a lottt). Do not play pick up sports with your buddies. Do not have playdates with the neighborhood kids. Do not sit next to people on the couch playing video games. Do not go over to your neighbor’s for dinner.
You may not show symptoms, but at this point we should assume everyone is a carrier of COVID-19. You may pass it on to someone who doesn’t have your immune system, who WILL develop symptoms.
This is war. And while it’s not my first time fighting an invisible enemy, it is my first time doing so without the equipment I need to protect myself and without the backed science I need to successfully defeat it. Your healthcare staff are on the battlefield without a defense strategy, without ammunition, without armor, rationing supplies to keep ourselves alive, and the enemy isn’t just knocking at our ED door, it’s already infiltrated the front lines. COVID-19 will not be raising a white flag. We cannot do this on our own. EVERYONE has to pay attention and do what they can.
I promise I will go to battle for you. I am not afraid; this is what I’m called to do. I’m a nurse and I will do my job, but I need you to do yours, too.
Stay at home. Nurse yourself.
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