Cast Into the Shadows: COVID-19’s Power Over Non-COVID Cases

As a pediatric ICU nurse in a hospital that has not experienced an overwhelming surge of COVID-19 patients, it has taken me some time to register the ways this pandemic has affected my perspective and practice.

Non-COVID diagnoses left in the shadows.

Photo by Unjay Markiewicz/ Unsplash

I recently took care of two young patients, each with acute and unexpected conditions. One was under post-operative care after a brain tumor had been removed the day before. The other had been newly diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. What stood out to me as I interacted with their families was that these were some of the only people I would interact with in this period who did not have COVID foregrounded in their mental and emotional space. This feeling was followed by the sobering realization that this was only because they found themselves dealing with something just as insidious, if not more so.

In both cases, the families observed confusing symptoms in their children and had to wrestle with whether or not to go to the ED in the midst of a pandemic. Only when the symptoms became so severe and concerning did these families decide they could no longer avoid the ED. Now facing an inpatient hospital stay […]

2020-06-02T09:32:44-04:00June 2nd, 2020|family experience, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing stories, patient engagement, Public health|1 Comment
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A Message from Frontline Nurses: Let’s Keep the Real Enemy in Sight

The recent protests against stay-at-home restrictions across the country are painful to watch for nurses most affected by the pandemic, those caring for COVID-19 patients. Four RNs working in hospitals in New York City who are graduate students at the Lienhard School of Nursing at Pace University decided to work together with one of their professors to share their thoughts on behalf of nurses on the front lines.

There are refrigerator trucks filled with bodies outside our hospitals. Many of us have to pass by them when we go into work, knowing that among those bodies are the patients we cared for yesterday and when we leave 12 hours later, some of the patients we cared for today will join them. Even harder to handle is the knowledge that among those bodies may be a colleague or friend, fellow nurses who caught COVID-19 while caring for others. It is heartbreaking and terrifying because we know that we too could end up in a body bag shelved in a refrigerator truck.

So, it is no wonder that the sight of people protesting protective measures generates such strong emotions for us—anger, fear, sadness. Anger that in choosing to ignore restrictions, or insisting on the right to risk their own health, they are […]

2021-01-21T11:07:20-05:00April 29th, 2020|infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective, Public health, students|7 Comments
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COVID-19: Where Do We Go From Here?

By AJN editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy

It’s mid-April and I feel like I’m in one of those B-rated movies of the 1950s—where the atomic bomb hit and everyone is sequestered in bunkers, only venturing out to forage for food.

I’m entering our 5th week following stay-at-home recommendations and I guess it’s paying off—New York (where I usually work) and New Jersey (where I live) seem to be seeing a slight “flattening of the curve.” (Does anyone not know about the COVID-19 curve? See this site by the University of Michigan for an explanation).

But that good news is tempered by the fact that some states have yet to see their peak. In addition, we’ve yet come with grips in how to deal with the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes, prisons, and shelters.

It’s worrisome to me that there is already talk of relaxing stay-at-home orders and social distancing before we have sufficient testing to have a clear understanding of how the disease spreads, before some states have reached their peak, and before we have refined the process of supplying and protecting health care workers. No one doubts that the economic shutdown is causing tremendous suffering, but without a firm grasp on how best to contain this disease […]

2020-04-16T10:26:04-04:00April 16th, 2020|Nursing|0 Comments
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Practicing the ABCDEs of Self-Care in Pandemic Times

While talk of the surge in COVID-19 cases continues, what has been less audible in the national discourse is the surge in mental health distress that will be with us long after the pandemic is gone. Many of us who have enjoyed relative psychological well-being are feeling inundated with near-pathological levels of anxiety, uncertainty, anticipatory grief, and real or secondary trauma.

Here are ABCDEs of self-care to keep yourself and loved ones emotionally—and physically—well.

ABCDEs of Self-Care

About

Stay informed as you need to regarding the pandemic, but then promptly pull yourself away and unplug. Initiate what we call a “sensory diet” to limit anxiety-provoking exposure to TV and radio news, social media, print materials, etc., beyond what you must know for yourself, your family, and/or your job. Fearful news can be addictive. Don’t overindulge!

Body

Many people, when asked how they can best care for themselves to stay well, say something on the order of “handwashing, masks, social distancing….” Sure, all that! But we also need to respect the healthy things our mother tried to teach us. How about exercise and fresh air (even if it’s just a three-minute brisk walk around the block), adequate sleep and decent nutrition? Honoring our bodies now will help us stay healthy and well, […]

2021-01-21T11:10:16-05:00April 13th, 2020|infectious diseases, mental illness, Nursing, wellness|0 Comments
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Preserving Integrity and Staying Power as a Nurse in a Pandemic

We are in unprecedented times—uncertainty and fear are ever present and nurses are being called to serve others in ways that challenge our appraisal of benefit to our patients and risk to our families’ health and well-being. Many of us are experiencing varying degrees of moral distress and moral outrage arising from the gaps between what we ought to be doing and what we are actually doing under these adverse conditions. It can feel as if it is impossible to do ‘the right thing.’

What can we do to remain whole in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis? How can we accept what seems unacceptable?

Instead of using precious energy in unproductive ways, we can focus on the things that are within our control for meeting the demands of the situation with integrity.

Recognize your moral distress.

It’s easy to get swept away with fear. When fear takes over, we can become paralyzed—unable to think clearly or to act in accordance with our values. One way to confront our fear is to recognize and name the source of the angst.

What is causing your distress? Notice tension anywhere in your body. Accept whatever it is you find. What are the conflicting obligations you are confronting? Try to name the conflict.

You may realize that your core value in the current situation is to not cause harm to your patients. You may say to yourself, I […]

2020-04-07T11:14:22-04:00April 7th, 2020|infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective|3 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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