Healthcare heroes share the toll of COVID-19 on staff, patients and families
The casualties of COVID-19 extend beyond patients.
Their families, unable to be in the hospital room to offer comfort, also suffer. So do frontline healthcare workers who are in the room, fully invested in trying to provide what’s missing for the patient.
“The best way to describe it, we are the family for these people,” said Adena respiratory therapist Jennifer Lower. “Their families can’t come in, can’t hold their hand, can’t tell them they’re going to be OK. So we put on a brave face, we go in and tell them those things, we hug them, we cry with them. When we walk out, we have to have our moment, too. We find a room and we cry. We get so close to these patients and we have to tell them goodbye sometimes. We are who they have.” Click here to read more.
Meet Jennifer Lower, a respiratory therapist with Adena Health System working closely with COVID-19 patients daily, performing their breathing treatments, intubating patients and trying to keep them from having to go on ventilators. She has been involved with Coronavirus patients since the beginning of the pandemic and, like many of her colleagues, regularly battles mental and physical exhaustion while remaining upbeat and supportive towards her patients.
Here, she shares some thoughts from the front lines for members of the community to consider when deciding whether to mask, social distance, practice vigorous handwashing and avoid large gatherings. Click here to read more.
Meet Madison Francis, a float pool nurse who works throughout Adena Health System and has treated COVID-19 patients, also doing post-mortem work. She said that while performing that latter role, it was not uncommon to see a patient pass of Coronavirus on any given shift.
Here, she shares some thoughts from the front lines for members of the community to consider when deciding whether to mask, social distance, practice vigorous handwashing and avoid large gatherings. Click here to read more.
Meet Laura Arnett, a nurse practitioner with Adena Health System. Laura has experienced both sides of the Coronavirus pandemic, having helped care for COVID-19 patients and contracting the disease herself. Now, she is sharing some of her thoughts on those experiences, including having to self-quarantine in the unsuccessful hope of keeping the virus away from her husband and baby. Click here to read more.