Welcome to Viral Stories, a living history about the deadliest pandemic outbreak of the last century.
In today’s edition, I speak with Beth, a nurse in New York City who is seeing the deadly impact of COVID-19 every single day.
If you have a story you want to share, email me at JordanZakarin@gmail.com.
Over the dozen years she has worked as a nurse in the maternity ward at New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital, Beth Traflet has seen her share of wild, headline-grabbing events. Usually, they’re positive and somewhat surreal occasions, like being at the eye of the pop culture hurricane when Beyonce gave birth to daughter Blue Ivy at Lenox Hill. But the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its massive impact on the hospital has become a career-defining experience, one that shows no signs of abating.
Remarkably, Beth found time to answer some of my questions about what’s happening at the hospital and what she’s experiencing; if you’re in NYC, make sure to cheer for her every evening at 7 pm when people start sticking their heads out their windows to applaud and thank all the medical professional and other essential workers for sticking their necks out for us all.
What percentage of the hospital's resources has COVID-19 taken up? Is it all hands on deck?
At our hospital, more than 50% of our beds have been taken by COVID patients. Everyone is working so hard every day, and many of us are even coming extra on our days off to help out with the influx of sick patients, and the potential for more sick patients to come.
How many hours do you find yourself working per day? Do you get any breaks?
My normal shift is 8 am to 8:30 pm, and I generally work three to four shifts per week. We are supposed to get a 30-minute break in the morning and an hour break for lunch. Many days we don’t get either of these breaks depending on the staffing situation and the patient load we might have. This is the case during a pandemic or not though, so it’s nothing unordinary. Just part of the job description.
How are you staying safe?
We are using appropriate and full PPE (personal protective equipment) to avoid infection during all deliveries, COVID and non-COVID. This includes two masks — one is an N95 and the other a surgical mask — a face shield, hair cover, full-body plastic gown, and gloves. It is extremely hot to say the least. A delivery in regular scrubs is a workout in and of itself and very physically exhausting, so imagine adding all of this extra gear to the process.
With any COVID patient or PUI (patient under investigation), we wear full PPE for every encounter we have with them. Unfortunately, even in the best situation, health care providers do get sick. It’s scary, especially with the long incubation period wondering if and when symptoms will occur.
Some mothers must have COVID — what happens then?
Depending on the situation at hand, we go by CDC guidelines. So if a mom is symptomatic, the baby gets isolated. If she is asymptotic (without symptoms) she can be with the baby in her room, isolated together and must wear a mask. We test the baby, but I’m not sure the exact testing guidelines at this point in time.
If she’s positive, ideally we get them out when they’re clinically stable. But as long as they are not compromised, they can go home normally and together.
How are you staying healthy, beyond the PPE?
On my days off I am staying quarantined (as everyone should be) and sleeping at least 8 hours a night, supplementing with vitamins C and D, hydrating the maximum, going for a daily run to keep my lungs strong very early in the morning when there are fewer people out and about, and trying to stay as zen as possible.
How is morale at the hospital?
I must say our morale is potentially better than it ever has been in the almost 12 years that I have worked here. We really are feeling the love from the community with signs outside apartment windows that we can see from the hospital, food that is sent to us daily (which helps when we get no breaks), daily clapping at cheering at 7 pm outside, and our management has been very supportive of adequate to over-staffing during this time. Many of us have given up our vacation days and time to work, not because we have to, but because we want to help.
What can people at home do to help?
Everyone needs to listen to the medical advice that we keep hearing over and over and that is to STAY HOME and away from others and our loved ones. This is not a time to hone in on our feelings of loneliness and missing our family or friends. We need to push those feelings aside for the greater good of each other and the world. Distract yourself by reading, learning a language, starting a company... anything!
We can still be so productive during this time if we want to be. It is such a crucial time right now and as we have seen, it only takes one person to spread this virus like wildfire. Please, for the good of humanity, quarantine. This will not last forever, but forever we will remember this disastrous time and how amazing we can all be if we just work together.