Thread by @daedree

I work in a small, rural hospital. Stayed extra after my shift yesterday to shuffle beds, grab call lights, and answer phones while the ER dealt with 3 traumas and a full house after dozens of COVIDs all day. At one point the ER was bringing beds with people to clear bays..

in anticipation of the 3 rigs bringing people in. I never got the full situation, but when I walked out over an hour after my shift ended there were still several law enforcement vehicles there. At one point, the ER had asked my unit to prep a room for a body just for family to..

say goodbye. Meanwhile, that same ER staff had had dozens of COVID patients, way too young, they were trying to admit but I kept telling them we don't have beds or staff (we don't). I could hear the breathlessness and exhaustion in the ER staff when they called to say, "we'll...

..give bedside report, get ready," while I'm scrambling to grab nurses as we're exchanging reports during shift change. I'd go into a COVID room for 20 minutes and come out to hear about 3 new admits. Meanwhile, the ICU next door is on the verge of incubating two patients, one...

young and one old. OR is finishing an after hours op that had complications, and they can't come help. Housekeeping (just 2 people) are rushing to strip and clean a room and they're utterly exhausted from the terminal cleans. One of the new nurses is still orienting, but is...

getting her own patients because that's the state of healthcare in America right now. She looked like she was ready to run away, and I probably would have helped her hide. 2 nurses from day shift are still there. We're calling our boss and she's calling our clinical director, ...

because there are NO MORE BEDS. Not enough staff. We're a tiny town and we're drowning. A ridiculously low #vaccination rate. One of the highest #COVID19 rates in my state. People who continue to deny it, until we're about to intubate and tell them they need to hurry and call..

Because we're out of beds and staff. We're a tiny town with an extremely low #vaccination rate and terribly high #COVID19 rate. One of the highest in my state. People deny it, deny the effectiveness of the #vaccine, until they're about to be intubated...

And then they're scared. They're calling family to say goodbye, because they know there's a terrible chance of 50% they will never come off that vent. Meanwhile, I'm sweating under layers of PPE stripping beds and arguing with IVs in COVID rooms, while there's a grandma who...

fell and in a clean room who desperately needs me to help her with pain, but I can't because selfish people aren't getting #immunized and instead I'm telling the 20 year old with #COVID they need to drink more and lay on their stomach, because their oxygen needs have doubled...

...in a matter of hours. I'm answering calls and can't tell family members over the phone that their spouse or sibling is actually doing worse, because #HIPAA and the pt is scared and doesn't want us to scare their family, even though they have reason to be.

We keep trying to ship complicated cases that need more specialized care, both #covid and non, and it's getting harder and harder to find a bed. I see the discouragement on case management's faces. On the family members when we tell them, "we're still trying." And we are. We keep

trying, because that's what #HCWs do. When we're exhausted, defeated, attacked, yelled at, criticized, and terrified, we keep trying. We're part of something bigger and we care about our coworkers and that stranger who is in bed 110 we have yet to meet, but we're also human...

Which means we make mistakes, and we get tired, especially when we're stretched so tight. People claim personal choice, blah blah, when it comes to the #covidvaccine, but when it comes down to it, that personal choice is allowing for others to die and suffer.

I'm not sure the point of my rant, but if it provides a glimpse into the shift of a #HCW and the despair and exhaustion and chaos we deal with daily and leads to one person getting immunized, I'll say it's worth it.

Guys, I'm not even a nurse. Got my bachelors while working as a CNA in college. Had kids, stayed home for the last 7 years. Went back to healthcare because I wanted to help and see if I was still interested in healthcare. And now, I'm not so sure. I love helping, but the cost...

Intubate keeps autocorrecting to incubate. Almost the same thing. But not.