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what it's like to be a nurse on the frontlines of covid-19
nurse: 'if i’m looking after six patients instead of four, i fear we can’t do our job properly.'
mar 25 2020
2 minute read
chest x-ray of a patient confirmed with covid-19.
courtesy of figure 1
louise, a staff nurse in a hospital in london, u.k., says her life has changed significantly since covid-19 began.
“i’m anxious and incredibly frustrated with the public ignoring advice and spreading fake news,” she says, adding that one of the most common misconceptions is that only the elderly have significant health issues with covid-19. most of the patients in her hospital’s icu are between 50 and 60, with just a handful over 60. the rest are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.
two weeks ago, louise, who asked to remain anonymous to protect patient privacy, saw a patient in his 50s who tested positive for covid-19 . he presented with a chest infection and was pale, sweaty, short of breath, and had a painful cough. his oxygen levels were so low that he required oxygen. he was treated as a septic shock patient, with fluids, antibiotics, blood tests, and fluid-balance monitoring.
he has a history of high blood pressure and asthma, both of which are well-controlled and not significant. his chest x-ray, pictured above, did not reveal any concerning appearances that pointed to pneumonia and the radiologist reported ‘non-specific chest x-ray, recommend ct if patient is clinically unwell’.
currently, he is receiving ventilation in the icu and has a poor prognosis.
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“my work is changing on a daily basis,” she says. “our workload is going to increase drastically in the next couple of weeks,” adding that the nurse to patient ratio is going to change on the ward as well as in the icu. “i fear there will be many deaths — not directly from covid-19 — but from the knock-on effect it’s going to have. if i’m looking after six patients instead of four due to staff shortages, then i fear we can’t do our job properly and a patient may become unwell due to this. it’s only when you see it for yourself that you realize how bad it is.”
louise uploaded her patient’s case on figure 1, a medical education app, where many healthcare practitioners around the world are quickly sharing their experiences with the novel coronavirus. healthing will be collaborating with figure 1 in the coming weeks to see how others around the world are treating covid-19.
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