'It's A Tsunami': Nurses Struggling With Latest COVID Surge
LEOMINSTER (CBS) - Kathy Reardon is the most stressed she has been in her 32 years of nursing.
"It's a tsunami," said Reardon, an emergency room nurse. "This virus is surging, and it's very deadly and we see it every single day."
The second surge for these frontline nurses is here. Karen Richard, who works in the designated COVID unit at HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster, says her shifts have been exhausting.
"It's frustrating to see more and more cases, we're knocking ourselves out, and we're shrink wrapped in plastic, essentially, from head to toe," said Richard. "And it's uncomfortable, and it's sweaty, and the patients are scared."
They say patients tell them they traveled over Thanksgiving, had family gatherings, and now the numbers are climbing with over 5,000 cases in Massachusetts on Thursday.
"We're having to take more COVID patients than we did during the first surge of the virus," said Richard. "It's incredibly difficult to care for all of these patients, like I said, between the medications and the assessments."
They now have a better understanding of the deadly virus. But Dr. Huan Ngo, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Brockton Hospital, says that adds to the stress.
"Having gone through it once and seeing a lot of sick patients and inability of their family to be with them, it was very hard. And now, starting to see it happen again," said Dr. Ngo.
The nurses say they were preparing for this post-Thanksgiving surge and feel more prepared to deal with it, but worry it will be a long haul with Christmas approaching.
"It's very frustrating for us because we're trying to save people and take care of you. And people aren't listening to us," said Reardon.
Their message is simple - follow precautions, because the care they are giving is even more demanding.