I worked for 20 hours yesterday. My body and spirit are broken.
So begins an oncology nurse s account of life in a hospital that s losing staff, where in the scramble for beds, someone with fever, cough, and shortness of breath lands in a unit occupied by immunocompromised patients. It s enough to bring the frustrated RN to tears. My anxiety is high, my mental health is in the toilet. I hope and pray we never have to live through a time like this again.
In a different hospital, another nurse, already on edge, braces for the next wave of illness: I m trying to mentally prepare myself. But my heart is broken at how broken the system is right now.