call the doctor
call the doctor
Embedded Files
How nurses and doctors are working through COVID-19
It’s 5:30 am on a Monday morning and Krystel Hattaway just woke up to begin her strenuous week as a RN at Cape Canaveral Hospital. She prepares herself for the long day that's sure to be ahead of her- if her job was busy before, COVID-19 has made it chaotic.
During the pandemic, healthcare workers have done a lot for people in their communities to keep them safe and help get them back on their feet after getting infected with the virus or a sickness in general. They are risking their lives to do good, and they wouldn’t want it any other way. Nurses like Hattaway love helping people. Having a passion for their career makes them happy to do their jobs- even when it's hard.
“I truly enjoy taking care of the patients, supporting my staff and organizing the flow of the day and unit," said Hattaway.
COVID has changed many of the ways workers go about their average day. There are lots of risks to working in a hospital, so workers have to do what they can to keep themselves and others safe. At the end of the day, taking those precautions are worth it to keep everyone safe.
“At work everyone wears masks, we clean a lot and we wash our hands/sanitize constantly. We take extra precautions when patients potentially have COVID,” said Dr. Mikaela Devaux, an MD who works at the Cape Canaveral and Viera hospitals.
"COVID-19 Frontline Health Workers" by UN Women Asia & the Pacific is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Despite the difficult nature of working in medicine, especially right now, we can trust that our healthcare workers are willing to work to protect everyone during this frightening time.
Working in healthcare has always been stressful, but COVID-19 has only exacerbated this problem. Healthcare workers are inundated with responsibilities and duties, and have to make sure that they take every precaution to stay safe.
“I find myself more tired, mentally and emotionally. It’s a lot being an everyday nurse then adding COVID, no visitors so constantly taking calls, while maintaining precautions and trying to not get sick yourself,” said Lauren Cosentino, an RN at Parrish Medical Center.
For many nurses and doctors, the hardest part of the job is losing patients. Oftentimes, they have to make the phone call to families that their loved one has passed.
“My least favorite part of my job is calling families when loved ones die,” said Cosentino.
Unfortunately, this part of the job has been further compounded because of the coronavirus pandemic. Everything that these nurses and doctors do has been made more difficult due to the busy and hectic nature of hospitals under COVID-19. With variables changing with the virus constantly, and lots of conflicting information about the virus's reach, it can be easy to get scared- especially as a patient in a hospital.
“The hardest thing is the unknown and that creates fear in the staff and the public. The conflicting information does not make it easy to navigate through,” said Hattaway.
Our healthcare workers deserve a lot of appreciation. Even if they don’t directly help a lot of us, they are still helping us by making sure infected people get well and stay home. These heroes are on the front lines tending to infected patients, and they help save lives every day.
“I really love the people I work with. I enjoy being able to help people and get them feeling better,” said Dr. Devaux.
This year is Brooke’s second year at Edgewood and first year on the Edge staff. She enjoys writing, playing volleyball, and spending time with family. Being on staff, she is looking forward to the experience and learning new things about writing.
Page updated
Report abuse