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AKRON, Ohio – A nurse in charge of the coronavirus unit at the Cleveland Clinic Akron General told Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday advising that the hospital has moved additional beds in the unit to care for patients with COVID-19, but she is concerned that there will not be enough staff if trends continue.
“It’s been very difficult over the past three weeks in particular,” said Stacey Morris. “Our numbers have grown so rapidly and so dramatically. We had to work sorting our beds to make room for the patients and to make sure we had enough room for them – this includes medical, surgical and intensive care beds.
Morris described the sad reality of some patients becoming seriously ill from the virus, going from a ventilator to an increasing oxygen requirement to be admitted to the ICU, all within hours.
“I think the unpredictability of the virus and that part of it is the scary part,” she said. “We never really know how a person is going to react to this virus, what their body is going to do. We have had people in their 30s and 40s who have no medical history and are doing very poorly. We want to know why and we want to be able to target it. We have treatments but there is no silver bullet, there is no silver bullet to treat it at this time. This is the part that is always worrying with this virus. “
The nurse manager also said how painful it is for nurses and caregivers to facilitate visits between patients and their families, which can be done virtually on an iPad or in person with visitors wearing protective gear, if the patient is about to die.
“It’s a hard thing to see on an iPad, to see a loved one like that when you really want to be with them. I know it’s also a very heavy item for the caregivers here, ”Morris said. “The team that holds this iPad, listen to these conversations. Usually these are private conversations that take place between loved ones and we are a part of it, it is really hard to experience that at this level.
“When there are visits, it means the odds are not in your favor,” she continued. “When you are able to come in and say goodbye, and we have to prepare you for this point, it is the frightening harsh reality of this virus. We never want anyone to get to this point, but we have to deal with it, and the care team is dealing with this every day here.
Earlier this month, Morris wrote a passionate appeal on Facebook for people to take the virus seriously. The post was shared more than 1,700 times on Monday, when she delivered a similar post during DeWine’s press conference.
“I just want people to take this seriously. It’s not a hoax, it’s not over the top, ”Morris said. “It’s our reality, and me and my team here, we live it every day coming to work. The team here is getting up every day to take care of these patients, and they have been doing so since March. And while it happens in waves, it’s one of the biggest waves we’ve ever seen and we don’t see an end to the growth. We hope we can unite as a state and a country to help slow this down. We need to slow it down like we did before. Sadly, we can’t do this without the help of everyone who masks, social distances, sanitizes your hands, all the things you’re supposed to do.
Ohio for the first time surpassed 5,000 hospitalizations in a single day on Monday, with 5060 hospitalizations, including 1,180 patients in intensive care. If current trends in hospitalization continue, Morris is concerned that Akron General may not have enough qualified staff to look after all patients.
“You can always get more equipment, build more space, install more beds, but it’s not just hundreds of thousands of nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists waiting behind the scenes,” she says. “We’ve been trained for years, medically, to treat patients to the high levels of acuity that they currently have with this virus, and you can’t duplicate that. You can’t just snap your fingers and make more caregivers appear. There is always space, there is always equipment, but you need us, and we need the help of the people to help us fight this so that we can be there for you. and continue to give the care we provide.
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