'Unfriend me:' Nurse shares frustrations, life experience months into pandemic
CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — All month, we have worked to hear again from those essential healthcare workers who are now entering their fifth month of fighting the coronavirus on top of the seasonal impacts thrown at medical professionals across the Grand Strand.
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This week, one Conway Medical Center nurse shared her experience working in the Critical Care Unit these past months. She first sounded off on social media sharing her frustrations with neighbors who she said were 'complaining' about being inconvenienced.
“We have seen so much more lately than the typical day of a nurse and so maybe I was venting my own emotions," said Candice Bowers RN. "You know sometimes or the majority of the time you can just roll with it and know that's a part of life and for some reason, the other day it just kind of wasn't rolling with me ."
Healthcare workers at Conway Medical have seen more lately in the form of patients. Since mid-June, the number of COVID-19 confirmed patients has jumped from roughly seven to 45 as of Friday. Monday, it was the highest yet at 56, eight times more patients than a month ago on June 19.
Bowers has worked in almost every side of the medical center from end-of-life care, ER, pediatrics, and now working in the ICU. Her experience these past few months has been carrying the strain of sadness and helplessness that she sees within patients and their families.
“We deal with patients that are very acutely ill primarily working on getting people to breathe," Bowers said.
Bowers is not alone in the pain she has felt and seen.
“That’s a tough thing to watch every single day, to watch somebody die without their family there," said Jennifer Mueller RN. "It's horrible to watch when people don't realize they went to the emergency room because they were short of breath and that was the last time they spoke to their family again."
Work now for Bowers and Mueller is like what we have seen for many healthcare workers. They are double-masked, somedays with face coverings as well as a full-body gown to act as Protective Personal Equipment (PPE). When she's done with the roughly 12 hours shifts, its time to go home but unlike most routing workday employees, she has to undergo a deep clean.
“All of the things that come to work with me stay in the garage everything gets stripped and I run to the shower," Bowers said.
She shared her message telling people who think the pandemic is 'fake' or 'media hype' to unfriend her. It's a far cry from early in spring when nurses like Bowers were being celebrated by the public.
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"Having the community support, it made it a lot easier," Bowers said. "And now that it's worse I feel everyone is burned out, everyone is kind of stressed out. I think if everyone took a step back and were a little more compassionate to know that everybody has something they are dealing with."
Bowers and her colleagues all hope that the public will hear their stories and do their part to remember the admiration once given to these healthcare heroes, but most of all, the call to action that can help their ability to save lives and reduce stress on care providers.
"This is a serious thing it is happening every day, wear a mask, wash your hands try to limit your activities with others and protect yourself and protect others," Mueller said.
