Are We Still Healthcare Heroes?

Healthcare Hero…

You know what time I look back on with fondness? May 2020. That was when nurses and hospital workers were “healthcare heroes”. Friends, family, & old college roommates checked in on me, while they were stuck at home, and I was going to work in a busy hospital, level III trauma center. Local restaurants and coffee shops were bringing in lunches, drinks, and treats for hospital workers to show appreciations. Oh, and I got a free pair of Crocs. Most people got plain black, some got tacky American flag print, but I received the cheetah print… ahhh good times. 

The months went on and the covid-19 pandemic continued, people got tired. Essential workers were really tired. Working really long hours, changes in policies and availability of PPE happening each week, and the numbers of covid patients continuing to rise. Most other people were tired of being stuck at home, tired of wearing a mask, tired of not being able to go to restaurants… so you know, the same thing (insert eye roll). That is when many things made a shift. 

The Shift to Madness

As we got closer to 2021 and inundated with political and election drama, for some reason, the pandemic turned political. I still have no clue how a virus turned political. Some people decided masks were over and that the pandemic could all be a hoax or overinflated to drive some sort of political agenda; at that point, some real special folks even declared that nurses and doctors were actual lying and forging death certificates and that the treatment for covid was actually what was killing people. That right there was a dagger to the gut. I promise you, I saw with my very own eyes people die at the hands of covid, and not just older people with tons of risk factors. When you have to perform a stat C-section in an ICU room to save a preterm baby and hope and pray that when the mom in “unpregnant” maybe her body will be able to better fight this virus, you really understand the severity of this virus. We have lost many moms to this virus and a lot of babies that were born asleep after mom had covid. When you have a mom that is spiraling down sicker and sicker, and one her last words before she is intubated is, “please just save my baby”, and those turn out to be her last words ever, you know this virus is deadly and not a hoax. I guess it was right around that time we were no longer heroes. Cool. 

It’s Been a Rough Two Years

For me, that was around the time life really got hard. People were trying to get back to their lives, trying to adjust to the new normal. Getting used to working from home, kids starting to really get used to virtual learning, & businesses trying to stay open and adapt to ever changing covid protocols. You know what nurses were doing? We were still working long hours, many times having to work overtime because healthcare workers were leaving the bedside to either have to stay home and help their kids with virtual learning or oftentimes leaving or dropping their status to part time because they are so burnt out. We were also starting to get medicated, either thru a prescription in hopes of alleviating the depression and anxiety or often self medicated with alcohol or other substances to numb the day of death and toxic stress. I am sure each hospital was different, but many of us were NOT getting any sort of hazard pay or bonuses; if you wanted more money there were PLENTY of opportunities for overtime pay if you wanted to work yourself into the ground. During this time, with all the vacancies of nurses, hospitals now have to pay a premium for travel nurses. So guess what happens next? Nurses realized they too could travel and make way more money, and also realized there was no need to be loyal to their hospital, because they haven’t felt supported during this terrible time. 

Personally, it has been a rough two years. Both my husband and I have been “essential workers” working outside of the home the entire time. My husband, Travis, works for an alcohol distribution company and the only industry that got just as busy during the pandemic as healthcare: Alcohol! I am very thankful for the perks of his job; thumbs up to an always stocked wine rack! We also have a daughter in elementary school, Kylie. So what do we do when she has to stay home during the day when schools shut down? It was pretty rough to try and work around each others schedules and work a lot of weekends. The plus side of nursing: flexibility in the schedule. My dad, Bob, also helped staying home with Kylie on days we both worked. But you know what Bob didn’t do while he was home with Kylie? Help with school work. He pretty much just made sure she was fed and didn’t burn down the house. But hey, he did that, so #grateful. So after working 12.5 hours in a busy hospital with the stress and sadness of covid patients, and just the stress and sometimes sadness that childbirth brings, I would come home, and have to go over school work and see what she’s been working on and what she missed. Oh and in addition to nurse and home school, yep, still a mother. So by the time all that is done, gotta figure out dinner, maybe I can eat, gotta get Kylie bathed and ready for bed. Then maybe I get to sleep 6 hours and wake up at 5:15 to do it again. Yay me! 

Sorry for the Pity Party

Ok, let me end this pity party. All of this is just to reflect on my time as a “healthcare hero” and the massive amounts of stress that so many have been under these past two years. If you are a healthcare worker reading this and nodding your head along, I am with you and I appreciate you. We now need to be heroes for ourselves. What are you all doing now for real self-care? Please help a sister out, because baths and manicures just are not going to cut it. 

At this point, March 2022, the covid numbers have actually been down and been staying down for the longest they have in two years. A lot of people feel relief and joy and trying to get back to true normalcy. I cannot seem to get to that point just yet. I haven’t been able to completely take a deep breath and a big sigh of relief. What can I say, I am a pessimist by nature. Hopefully, I will get there with time. Are any of you to the point where you’re calling it an “endemic”? Do you think we are finally past the worst of covid-19?

ashley

Mental Mommy, RN