00:00During this pandemic it's been a little bit different than normal.
00:03My job has changed a lot. It's just totally changed
00:06the way that we care for certain patients.
00:10I'm Sophia and I'm with Refinery29. I am calling in from the state of Florida.
00:15I am a registered nurse. I work on a surgical unit.
00:19My job is to take care and advocate for patients.
00:22I have been a registered nurse since February of last year.
00:26My passion in nursing began at the age of 12.
00:29My grandfather was unfortunately diagnosed with bladder cancer.
00:33I saw his hospice nurse and she became a huge inspiration to me.
00:39The night that he passed away I just saw how much love she took
00:42towards him and made sure that he was comfortable.
00:45She was there for our family and never left our side
00:49and we still have that connection with her to this day.
00:51I started doing nursing classes and then went to college and started nursing school.
00:58And it was just a complete passion of mine.
01:00So I just got to my hospital for my third night this week.
01:03It has been a couple of busy nights, so let's head in and see what tonight will bring.
01:07I work night shift, which means I work from 7pm to 7am.
01:12Normally we have surgeries every single day.
01:14When I came on for my first shift coming back after a few days off and the pandemic started
01:21to pick up and health professionals were really called to action, I didn't know what I was going
01:27to be coming into, what kind of patients I would be taking care of, how many patients I would be
01:33getting,
01:34how many hours I would be asked to work, what it meant to take care of COVID patients,
01:39and what it meant for going home and making sure that I didn't infect my family.
01:45Cloth masks that are made from home are not really effective in what's going on right now.
01:52It may help with the droplets.
01:54So if someone sneezes or coughs and that happens to be near you,
01:59if you are wearing a mask, it does help you.
02:02However, it is airborne.
02:03So the masks that are most effective are the N95 masks and the N100 masks.
02:09They both have filters in them.
02:11And that's currently what our healthcare professionals really need.
02:14And other hospitals don't even have N95 masks to use.
02:19So we are lucky that we even have them currently.
02:22Well, I just finished night three out of four this week.
02:27I am pretty exhausted.
02:28That was a long night.
02:30I'm tired.
02:31I'm ready to go home, take a shower, and hopefully get a few hours of sleep.
02:37Continuing to work is important to me.
02:39I have decided to pick up a few extra shifts these upcoming weeks
02:44in order to help out my unit so that we don't have a strain on staff.
02:49I know that there are patients that need my help.
02:53And not only are there patients, but there's families who are counting on
02:56the people at the hospital to take care of their loved ones when they're not able to see them
03:01every single day.
03:02We have no visiting hours currently.
03:05This really breaks the connection between a patient and their family.
03:08And we are very sorry for the fact that these patients can't have just that face-to-face connection.
03:16So a few nurses and a few patient care techs have been teaching them how to FaceTime on their phones
03:22and just trying to keep that connection with their families.
03:25The greatest thing that I saw was the community came together
03:30and they all parked in the parking lot to practice social distancing.
03:35And in the parking lot, they flashed their lights kind of like a Christmas display.
03:40This was just a sign for the healthcare professionals and the patients
03:44that the community was with them and thinking of them
03:48and keeping them in their thoughts and praying for them.
03:51I had a patient who was very lonely and very sad.
03:55And I just kind of pulled up a chair next to her bed and just held her hand.
03:59And she just kind of talked to me about her day.
04:02And that physical touch between her and I seemed to provide her some comfort during this time.
04:08The patient seemed to be wanting to talk a lot more and they're wanting to share their feelings
04:13and tell me that they're lonely.
04:15And that's very hard to hear as a healthcare worker.
04:18It's very important for us right now to be there, to show up at work, to be present,
04:23and to make sure that we're providing the best care that we can and show them that we are calm,
04:29to show them that during this time of fear and this time of panic that we are doing our job
04:36and we're doing it calmly and we're doing it to the best of our ability.
04:40Every nurse's story during this pandemic is different.
04:44My story looks different than a nurse in California, a nurse in New York, a nurse in Ohio.
04:51We all want to take care of people. We all want to provide the best care.
04:56We also want to keep our patients and ourselves safe and our other colleagues safe.
05:02To be considered on the front lines is an honor. You are dealing with people's families,
05:09with patients in their most vulnerable states, and it's not a job that I take lightly.
05:14I did not expect to ever be in a pandemic, especially in my first year of nursing.
05:21It is a complete whirlwind. It's very stressful. It's very scary. It makes people very anxious.
05:28Stay in contact with your friends and family. Call them on the phone. FaceTime with them.
05:33But make sure that you're practicing social distancing. There are many people who are
05:38immunocompromised. So please stay home. If you do see a nurse or a doctor, please thank them for
05:46what they're doing. But also there's just so many workers that are still working right now
05:52and that cannot work from home and that are away from their families and possibly being exposed to
05:59COVID-19 as well. So please thank them. I don't always feel like a hero because I'm just doing the
06:07work that I have always been passionate about, but I feel very blessed to be doing what I love to
06:13do.
06:14Nursing people back to health is essential. I'm doing my part, so please stay home and do yours.
