{"id":14923,"date":"2021-09-21T08:00:19","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T08:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?p=14923"},"modified":"2024-02-12T22:14:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T22:14:36","slug":"what-its-like-to-work-in-a-hospital-during-a-pandemic-and-what-you-can-do-to-ease-the-burden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/what-its-like-to-work-in-a-hospital-during-a-pandemic-and-what-you-can-do-to-ease-the-burden\/","title":{"rendered":"What it\u2019s like to work in a hospital during a pandemic \u2014 and what you can do to ease the burden","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Eighteen months ago, Jon Gilbert, RN, CCRN, a charge nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU) at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital<\/a>, told his team that the ICU was accepting its first patients with COVID-19. Like many health care professionals across the globe, it was a mission they embraced with courage, strength, skill and resilience.<\/p>\n

Fast forward a year and a half and countless patients later. When Gilbert stands before his unit now, he still sees those same dedicated team members, but the mood has shifted. They are tired. They are frustrated.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us ever thought it would go on for this long,\u201d says Gilbert. \u201cWhen the COVID-19 vaccines came out, we breathed this collective sigh of relief. But with people refusing to get vaccinated, it feels like there\u2019s no longer a light at the end of the tunnel. The situation right now is the worst we have seen since the pandemic began.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flooded and stretched thin<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Health systems from coast to coast, including MultiCare, are caring for record numbers of patients with COVID-19 \u2014 most of whom are unvaccinated<\/a> \u2014 amid a historic labor shortage. This means that Gilbert and many of his colleagues frequently work grueling back-to-back shifts. It means that ICUs are full of patients who require labor-intensive, hands-on care and whose conditions often deteriorate quickly. It means that emergency departments (EDs) are flooded with patients of all ages who are critically ill.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been common for our 46-bed ED to be packed, with another 30 to 40 patients in the waiting room,\u201d says Morgan Sagdahl, an emergency services technician at Good Samaritan. \u201cMany of the unvaccinated patients with COVID-19 are very sick. The sicker you are, the more resources \u2014 staff, equipment and time \u2014 are required to care for you. Often it feels like we\u2019re just trying to keep our heads above water.\u201d<\/p>\n

This spike in patient volumes has been driven in part by the rapid spread of the delta variant<\/a>, a highly contagious form of the virus that causes COVID-19. In addition to stretching hospital capacity, the surge is also testing staff morale like never before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen patients in the ICU go into cardiac or respiratory arrest and they don\u2019t survive, staff must immediately get the room ready for the next patient,\u201d says Gilbert. \u201cThere is no time to process what happened \u2014 this goes on day after day, multiple times a day and that wears on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The toll of the pandemic <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The pandemic has taken a toll on the well-being of many health care professionals. According to a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll<\/a>, approximately three in 10 health care workers have considered leaving the profession, and more than half report feelings of burnout.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are exhausted, both physically and emotionally,\u201d says Sagdahl. \u201cThe ongoing stress makes us more vulnerable to COVID-19 and it impacts the care we provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current situation even affects health care professionals when they\u2019re off the clock.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really difficult to rest when you get home,\u201d says Gilbert. \u201cOn my days off, I often don\u2019t have the energy to do any of the things I typically enjoy, like hiking, that restore my emotional capital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilbert also knows that he and his fellow clinicians are not the only ones who are feeling weary and overdrawn.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurts to see people suffering, not only inside the walls of the hospital but outside as well. The pandemic has disrupted life for everyone,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat we hope is that people will once again put their trust in the medical community and block out the noise that seems to be overshadowing our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

How you can help<\/strong><\/h2>\n

To help relieve some of the strain on our staff and health system, MultiCare has implemented a salaried regional labor pool (SRLP). Through this resource, salaried MultiCare employees \u2014 whether they have clinical experience or not \u2014 sign up to provide on-the-floor support for their hospital-based colleagues, from changing bed linens to restocking supplies and much more. In addition, MultiCare has delayed many elective surgeries and re-deployed some outpatient staff to hospital facilities.<\/p>\n

There are also steps the public can take to help ease the burden our health care professionals are shouldering: get vaccinated, wear a mask in indoor spaces and follow community social distancing guidelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cVaccines help prevent people with COVID-19 from needing hospitalization,\u201d says Sagdahl. \u201cLess people admitted means we have more beds and more staff available for other patients who need emergent care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the pandemic, those who have been providing key public services, such as hospital-based care, have been referred to as frontline workers, however Gilbert sees his role and that of his team\u2019s a little differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the last stop \u2014 the community is the front line now,\u201d he says. \u201cGetting vaccinated might not just save your life, but the life of your child, your parent or your neighbor. Nobody wants to say goodbye to their loved one through the glass of the ICU.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eighteen months ago, Jon Gilbert, RN, CCRN, a charge nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU) at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital, told his team that the ICU was accepting its first patients with COVID-19. Like many health care professionals across the globe, it was a mission they embraced with courage, strength, skill and resilience. Fast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-covid-19","category-profiles-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat it\u2019s like to work in a hospital during a pandemic- MultiCare Vitals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ICUs are full of patients who require labor-intensive, hands-on care and whose conditions often deteriorate quickly. 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