整形外科护士自愿在COVID-19中心服务
詹娜·安吉洛，RN，从来没有想过在E工作.R. when she began her career as a plastic and breast surgery nurse in New York five years ago. 然后，冠状病毒大流行来了. Angelo, 谁和ASPS成员Oren Lerman一起工作, MD, 在纽约勒诺克斯山医院乳房中心, was redeployed to treat COVID-19 patients at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills hospital in Queens for an indefinite time period without any prior E.R. experience. 尽管她自愿为医院提供一些帮助, Angelo concedes she was anxious when her name was called during the peak of New York's coronavirus outbreak.
“无论是个人情绪还是职业情绪，都像坐过山车," says Angelo, 她从三月开始在医院工作12小时. “与COVID-19确诊患者一起工作绝对是一项挑战. In plastic surgery, 十大网赌排行榜为那些希望进行乳房再造的乳腺癌患者提供服务, but the timeline of their journey from treating their disease and going through the process of recovery is a world of difference, 与十大网赌排行榜对COVID-19患者所做的相比.
"We all have families to get home to – and I was worried about what I was bringing home every day," she adds. 但同样的担心和焦虑激发了他的帮助欲望. 这就是我从事这一行的原因. I went from feeling anxious and nervous to feeling motivated to be on the front lines because my resources were needed."
纽约成为疫情爆发的中心, with more than 343,截至发稿时，全州有705例确诊病例——包括191例以上,320 in New York City, and more than 27,284 coronavirus-related死亡. 由于病例突然涌入，医院面临个人防护装备和床位短缺的问题, 安吉洛说有30个床位的E.R. was overrun with more than 100 COVID-19 patients around-the-clock, with 14 patients per nurse. 在高峰期间，工作人员再次使用口罩以延长供应. 一些病人，特别是那些来自疗养院的病人，在E.R. 尽管对医疗专业人员的需求仍在持续, 安吉洛说，她的医院最近经历了COVID-19患者的减少, 护士与病人的比例也在下降. The hospital also replenished inventory and now provides staff with new protective equipment every day, she adds.
“十大网赌排行榜仍然全天为病人分诊, 但现在十大网赌排行榜正在治疗他们，让他们出院或者把他们分配到不同的楼层," she says. “十大网赌排行榜现在在E区看到30到40个病人.R. 好情况下，每个护士有五个病人. More recently, we've been able to treat our patients in a much more comprehensive manner than the first month of seeing COVID-19 patients. 现在十大网赌排行榜了解了十大网赌排行榜可以使用的支持性干预措施来帮助十大网赌排行榜的病人, whether it's lying them on their side or turning them to help them with their breathing, 现在有了新的治疗方法. 十大网赌排行榜对如何治疗这些病人有了更好的了解."
Angelo also notes an increase in patients trying to fight the virus on their own at home. In her role as an E.R. nurse, she continually educates patients on managing their symptoms and stresses the importance of self-quarantining to stop the spread and flatten the curve.
“十大网赌排行榜看到了一系列的病人，更多的人在E室接受检查.R.她说. “十大网赌排行榜现在在病人出院时提供脉搏血氧仪.R.这是十大网赌排行榜几周前不需要提供的资源. I find this has been really comforting for them to know we can evaluate them medically, release them and provide proper education to help them recover and manage the virus at home."
Act of courage
Angelo says the staff 's camaraderie and all-hands-on-deck approach helped her transition from helping plastic surgery patients to COVID-19 patients.
"Being in healthcare, 你必须和团队合作, 团队的力量不仅决定了你自己的成功, 还有你的病人的成功和你提供的护理," she says. "A level of frustration is shared by every person in healthcare, but there's also a sense of pride. 在这场大流行期间，每个人都必须来工作，做好自己的工作. 我没有做好充分的准备, but having the support of the surgeons I work with at the plastic surgery practice – as well as my colleagues in the E.R. ——这就完全不同了，尽管我得边学边学. 我一直能够保持强大，并因此获得了更多的技能. 这对我来说是一个重要的学习时刻."
Dr. 勒曼说他被安吉洛愿意上前线的精神所鼓舞.
"This pandemic is really one of the biggest challenges of our lives in general as a community, and it's specifically one of the biggest challenges of our careers as healthcare providers," he tells PSN. "When a nurse on your team who's an expert in treating breast cancer and breast reconstruction patients runs into the fire and goes completely out of her area of comfort into one of the scariest and most challenging things we've faced, it made me think we should recognize the healthcare providers who stepped up during this time.
“十大网赌排行榜做了很多整形手术, 重建外科医生和显微外科医生已经完全被边缘化," Dr. Lerman adds. “我尽我所能去做, 但当你的专业领域是重建手术, 很难找到一个地方来帮助COVID-19患者. So, watching our nurse go into the fire was one of the most courageous things I've seen in a long time."
Helping hand
One of the biggest hardships for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and their families is the visitor restrictions. Patients are isolated and unable to visit with their loved ones – even during their final moments. Angelo recalls holding the hands of her patients and standing at their bedside while they communicated with their family via FaceTime before undergoing intubation. She says she's grateful that she can comfort them during this vulnerable and scary time in their lives.
"Most times these patients can't even speak because they're so short of breath and they are anxious and alone, 我却向他们伸出手来," she says. "I've been beside a grandmother who was able to see her grandchild on FaceTime and her grandchild was sharing words with her before we intubated her. I know the patient is going to end up being in the ICU and will have a long and uncertain journey ahead but having that moment – whether it's 30 seconds with me holding their hand and telling them I'm right there or being able to FaceTime with their family – makes all the difference and lets them know they have so much to live for outside of the E.R."
Finding a connection and building a rapport with patients has been grounding for Angelo and her patients, 即使在压力很大的时候.
"They know that I'm there, 为他们做点小事，比如牵他们的手，会让人感到安慰," she says. “十大网赌排行榜与病人联系的最小尝试可以帮助医疗干预之外的事情, even if they're intubated and you have a wife on the phone talking to her husband and helping him try to get through this. 令人难以置信的是，十大网赌排行榜仍然能够为十大网赌排行榜的病人提供这种护理."
Angelo says the experience provided her with a new perspective on patient care – and a renewed sense of passion and pride.
“我每天都学到新的东西，即使我在东部的战壕里.R., COVID-19 has reminded me you can't really understand a patient's situation and the extent of what they are going through until you're personally in it," she says. "There are so many elements to a person's healthcare journey, and we're a small part of that journey. I've been really proud of my interpersonal communication with my patients in the breast care and plastic surgery world, 我在E调的时候提高了很多.R. 和病人建立个人联系. Thinking about the people I've been able to help and meet has really carried me through and uplifted my spirits – even on the worst days. I'm grateful for that."