Items

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  2020-07-17

  Nurses Cry for Help

  This is a cry for help that my sister and her manager posted on Facebook. This came at a time when nurses were running on empty as far as supplies were concerned. They needed anything they could get their hands on. The panic caused by the virus led to people hoarding PPE and essentially taking it from the hands of the people that really needed it. Because of that, the nurses needed to reach out to anyone that would listen. They sent a message to the community asking for help and putting the list of items they were short of in the amazon wish list. Thankfully within days they were able to get enough supplies to last them a few weeks but they are still reliant on the community. The pandemic has asked a lot from the frontline workers and the stress they've endured isn't something I'd wish on my worst enemy. If their is any way to make their jobs a bit easier, I think we owe it to them to do it.
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  2020-07-28

  3D Printed, P100 Mask for COVID Nurses

  This is a video my sister sent me of her first day with the P100 mask. It is a 3D printed mask that a department at her hospital have been making themselves because of the shortage of PPE. Every nurse gets one of these and the filters on them are replaceable (roughly 3 months before replacement filters are needed). They are very tight so nurses apply gel stickers around the seal to prevent bruising. They are so new to the unit that some nurses and techs have been getting bad dermatitis on their skin, so their is still some improvements to be made but because of the severity of the situation comfort is overlooked.
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  2020-07-15

  COVID uniform

  This is a picture of my sister on her first day on the COVID unit as St. Joseph's Hospital. She was transferred from the Neuro-ICU because the size of COVID admissions. The managers put a strong focus on the importance of gearing up, they were told specifically that "nothing is an emergency" but after the first few days she learned that wasn't the case. It typically takes about 4 to 5 minutes to get completely geared up to go into a patients room. The problem is when a patients O2 levels drop hard and fast. Then the nurses are faced with the choice to go in without proper protection or take the time to get geared up. Nurses face life and death situations normally, a pandemic just amplifies it to a level that no one was prepared for.
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  2020-07-10

  DNR - A Death Sentence

  My sisters are nurses on the COVID unit at St. Josephs Hospital and they are starting to see a lot more of these signs popping up. So many in fact that they are having to make their own because so many patients have received 'Do Not Resuscitate' orders. For those who don't know, this is an order caretakers follow when a patient is excluded from basic recovery care when their heart stops or they stop breathing. On the COVID unit, patients and families are facing their own mortality through this decision. This order has become more common during this pandemic because of how easily it is transmitted. Sometimes the order is requested by the patient but recently the decision has fallen on the doctors in charge. Visitors aren't allowed and ventilated patients can't provide input. The news is often broken to the families through a phone call or, if your lucky, a Zoom call. These orders are put in place when someone is nearing the end of their fight with COVID, to prevent the transmission of the virus to the nursing staff. This is a screenshot from my sisters Instagram showing an example of a hand made sign on her unit.
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  2020-07-25

  Overcrowded Hospitals

  As a nurse at St. Josephs Hospital, my sister is at the heart of this pandemic. She is watching as her workplace is overrun with patients infected with the virus. Taking every precaution possible, she is doing everything she can to help her patients and the other nurses on her unit. Since the influx of positive cases is overwhelming the hospital, nurses from other units are transferred and trained on the COVID unit. Neonatal unit nurses, Neuro-ICU nurses, and anyone else that can help is fighting on the front lines of this pandemic. This is a screenshot from her Instagram, pleading with anyone who will see it, the consequences of not taking this virus seriously.