Nurse describes inside of Nebraska Medicine COVID-19 ICU
As of Tuesday, 21 people were in those COVID-19 intensive care units
As of Tuesday, 21 people were in those COVID-19 intensive care units
As of Tuesday, 21 people were in those COVID-19 intensive care units
As of Tuesday, 21 people were in Nebraska Medicine's COVID-19 intensive care units. That number gives some perspective, as metro health systems break a record number of patients on ventilators.
Garrett Connor started his first job as a nurse at the Med Center one year ago, in the thick of the pandemic.
"There's definitely moments that are hard," Connor said.
Right now, he said he's treating about two to three critically ill, ventilated COVID-19 patients a day. As cases rise again, he said he's frustrated with some of his patients who say they still do not believe the virus is real.
"It's progressed really far and usually by the time that realization happens it's far along in the process," Connor said. "At that point, a lot of preventative measures are too far along to use those."
As a nurse, Connor tries to develop good relationships with his patients, which, he said, can be the toughest part of the job.
"Even recently, we've had a lot of people pass, and when they cluster together — it happens really close together — it's really hard it kind of makes you feel like you're fighting a losing battle," Connor said.
Connor said it's especially hard to watch patients die from the virus when there's a vaccine that could keep them out of the hospital in the first place.
"I think the frustrating thing is its medicine at its core, and it's the same as any other type of medicine that we've done," Connor said. "It's a vaccine."