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Sharing an experience posted today from my Covid Professionals group- May 13:
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As a Nurse of 31 years there have been many days of frustration and days of elation. The Covid pandemic is the only time in my career that I have been left feeling I truly have nothing to offer. Recently, I cared for a critically ill 36 year old. We proned, we tried drugs unproven to work, and we tried everything possible to keep from intubation. We couldn’t transfer, his oxygen needs were too great and there wasn’t anything different to try unless he crashed and required a ventilator. My last shift with him before he transferred I was struck by the fact that today with all our resources all our expertise and all of our brilliant minds we were losing.
Early in the shift the saturation dropped to the low 70’s. I hurried to don my papr and helped him to prone. I called for respiratory and the hospitalist to come to the bedside. More oxygen and try to slow the breathing. I got close and spoke to him, “I am here and I won’t leave you”. I rubbed his back talked to him about slowing the breathes, it seemed to help to keep telling him about the progress, we are at 80, good job slow it down, rubbing his shoulders and talking. At one point I had stopped rubbing his back he looked at me and said please the back rub helps. I began to rub his back again. We are at 85 we are making progress. It took almost an hour to bring the saturation back to 90’s.
We repeated this again for a second time just before shift change. He called out my name “Joyce please rub my back in short gasping breaths. Again, I talked him through to a saturation of 90. He was prone his temperature up to 102.4 after a gram of Tylenol. He was tired and he was losing his battle.
I gave report warning my colleague he won’t make it through the night, he is to tired, working too hard. Anyone else who wasn’t a Covid patient would have been intubated much sooner. He lost a couple hours later. He transferred to a tertiary hospital with a very good chance he will die. Intubated Covid patients don’t not do well. He arrived alive and was placed on echmo.
Weeks of care and all I could do was rub his back and talk to him. I have never felt so helpless. I pray for him, his family and those caring for him now.
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'A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.'
--Confucius
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