Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images In the spring, Michelle Schultz had a particularly difficult COVID-19 patient. The man, who was in his 60s, had come to the emergency room short of breath a few days before. Even though his oxygen levels were pretty low, he refused medication and wanted to leave the Indiana hospital without a mask on. The nurse and some of her colleagues tried convincing him to stay, but the man insisted he felt fine.
Nurses have been rated the most trusted professionals for almost two decades — now they’re punching bags for those who think they’re lying about the pandemic. Back in the spring they were applauded as heroes, but many have reached a breaking point and want to quit a job they love. Gigi Perez, a nurse at a hospital in Lancaster, California recently treated a man for a non-COVID related injury who harassed her for wearing her N95. “You must be a Democrat or something,” he said and told her to take the mask off. “People are brainwashed beyond belief and choose to believe a politician over the people fighting the pandemic,” she says.
“I have cried quite a bit,” she said. “It’s almost like a grieving process. I’m grieving the loss of what I used to have: patients who listened and trusted me.” Earlier this month Ashley Bartholomew decided to be brutally honest with a COVID-19 patient in intensive care who criticized “fake news” about freezer truck morgues and downplayed the virus. Since it was the nurse’s last shift at a hospital in El Paso she let her professional guard down. Through tears, she told the roughly 50-year-old man that he was the only patient she’d treated that day who could speak, and that she’s never seen so much death in her 10 years on the job.
Edmonds has been struggling with depression and says the last few months have been the most challenging of her career. With the second wave crashing hard on her hospital, she’s been forced to juggle too many patients, and worries that if someone dies on her watch, she might have to deal with a family that doesn’t even believe COVID-19 is real. She no longer raises her hand for overtime time shifts; she’s too overwhelmed and worried about the situations she might walk into.
angelinachapin Why are these people going to the hospital if they refuse treatment?
angelinachapin The percentage of people doing this is infinitesimal-
angelinachapin The mental health crisis in America is literally crazy. Covid19 denial is a form of obvious mental illness.
angelinachapin These people are stupid. What do they think they have? An imaginary illness?
angelinachapin Someone purposely spits on me, I will press charges of battery & refuse to treat. Move on to the next patient who wants your help ladies & gents... 🤷🏻♀️🤬
angelinachapin I have no idea what goes through their heads. If they believe it’s a hoax, then why are they even in the hospital wasting precious resources?
angelinachapin Turn em away. Refuse service. Rs have taught us how little oaths mean. Let em lie in that bed. Just appalling.
angelinachapin The patients spitting on nurses should be charged with attempted murder and arrested.
moleek22 angelinachapin Triage with extreme prejudice. Ask sign a consent to treatment form that acknowledges COVID infection.
angelinachapin There will be a story letter how all of this is falls.
angelinachapin I still blame government leadership. We are in crisis mode. There is NO ROOM for alternative facts or rose-colored views. Follow the science. Support our professionals by being on the same page. Anything less will result in more deaths. Words can kill. We are seeing it daily.
angelinachapin When u speak crap and propaganda + people call you out on it, instead of calling them crazy, PROVE IT! Where are all the funerals? The recovery rate is better than the flu! The lockdowns have NOTHING to do with safety and everything to do with control. You know, the new normal..
angelinachapin threadreaderapp please unroll. thanks!!!
JPeterBurger angelinachapin They're right. It's just the flu.
angelinachapin Patients who intentionally spit or cough on healthcare workers don’t deserve treatment
benyt angelinachapin Thank you for this article. As tge spouse of a T1 diabetic, we know how important nurses, doctors, and every front-line worker is during the COVID19 pandemic. Please extend our thanks to the nurses who spoke to you. StayHome StayHomeForThanksgiving
benyt angelinachapin I remember when a big account on here tried to cast doubt on the SD nurse because her CNN video 'seemed off'. Led to lots of people questioning whether this sort of thing ever happens.🤷♀️
angelinachapin Great article, but I'm curious now about hospital admin responses and supports for nurses. Are they helping at all?
angelinachapin then send the covid deniers home....we don't need them occupying beds for innocent victims of this disease
angelinachapin johncusack
“We never have had people who thought we were lying to them,” said one nurse. “It feels like the public doesn’t trust us anymore.”
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