Navigating COVID and Dealing with Death as a Nurse

Being a nurse is knowing you will at some point or another deal with death. What we couldn't have predicted is what it would be like working as a nurse in a pandemic that has taken so many lives. In this episode, Kristen and Maddi open up about what it has been like working on the front lines in the COVID units of their hospitals. Kristen shares her experience learning to care for her patients as a new nurse, and navigating this virus that has challenged both new and seasoned nurses. Maddi, as a CVICU nurse, shares her experience treating the most critical COVID patients, working overtime to keep up with the demand, and what it has been like dealing with death throughout the pandemic.

01:15 What was it like working in the ICU during the first surge of COVID in 2020?

03:10 How did you adjust to the constant policy changes as your hospital was filling with COVID patients?

05:20 How have you responded to questions about what treatment is working to combat COVID?

07:15 The most common question: What is the recovery rate you see working on COVID units?

08:40 How did you handle seeing patient after patient decline?

12:00 What did your hospital do to prepare as supplies were running out in other parts of the country?

13:30 What was it like starting your first nursing job and treating COVID patients as a new nurse?

16:20 How do you handle dealing with death as a nurse?

17:40 How has COVID changed the experience of supporting patients and their loved ones as the patient passes away?

20:40 How has it affected you as a nurse doing everything you can to care for a patient and not getting the result you want?

22:00 What got you through working overtime to keep up with the demand?

22:40 The kind gesture that kept me going after losing a patient I cared for over 6 straight shifts.

26:30 Things you can do to find support when dealing with death as a nurse.

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