Nurses share stories of caring for COVID-19 patients

Every day, healthcare workers are going into battle with an enemy, unlike anything they've seen before.

These are the stories, told in their own words, of three University of Kansas Health System nurses.

EXCLUSIVE AT SIX --STORIES FROM THEFRONTLINES OF THEPANDEMIC.NURSES AND A CHAPLAINAT THE UNIVERSITY OFKANSAS HEALTH SYSTEMSHARE.....IN THEIR OWNWORDS- WHAT IT'S LIKE TOFIGHT COVID-19 INSIDEHOSPITAL WALLS.HERE'S 41 ACTION NEWSREPORTER CAT REID.Sami Johnson/University ofKansasHealth System R.N.My name"s Sami, andI"m a registered nurseKathy Riegelman/University ofKansas Health System ChaplainHello, my name is Kathy.I"m a chaplain at theUniversity of Kansas HealthSystemBecky Williams/University ofKansasHealth System RN-My name is Becky Williams. Iam a nurse at the University ofKansas Health System inKansas City, Kansas, and Iwork in the medical surgicalICU there that has now beenconverted into the COVID ICUmost people would describeme as a pretty positive,upbeat person, and I really dotry to stay that way.

But to behonest, taking care of ourcovid19 patients has beenwearing on me.

They are justso incredibly sick that I feellike coming home and passingout most of the timeSami Johnson-I can really tell with mypatients that everyone isfeeling isolated, and while Ican"t replace mypatients" family or friends,just sitting down and checkiin and letting people sharetheir concerns and their fearsright now is really important.And just having that sense ofcommunity.

Even sittingaround talking with mycoworkers talking about whatwe"re worried about isreally important right nowBecky WilliamsToday felt especially hardbecause we had a patient whohas been there for a coupleweeks and their familydecided to palliatively extubatethem today.He..he seemed verycomfortable during it whichwas good, that was good.But it was still just very, veryhad mentally and emotionlyJust having him there in theroom without his familyactually physically present withhimWe were lucky to do a zoommeeting with his whole entirefamily, and I believe we madeit as special and comfortablefor him as we possibly couldSami Johnson-I want everyone to check in ontheir family, on their friends,their coworkers.Becky Williams-I just feel sometimes likewe;re throwing so many thingsat these patients and justtrying to get them better, anditjust doesn"t seem likeit"s working right nowIt"s just this uphill battle,and I am just ready to be onthe downward slope of all ofthis.

I just need this to beoverwith.

We all just need this tobe over withKathy Riegelman-I"m at the end of my daynow, and I think what"sbringing me hope is therealization that there is somuch resilience in people thatwe don"t often recognizeWilliams-I am just so, I"m so proudof how much we"veaccomplished and how wellwe"ve taken care of thesepatients.

Even when itdoesn"t seem like wehave enough staff, enoughsupplies, enough time, wehave just taken this on andhave not slowed down, and Iam just so proud and happy towork with the people I workwithJohnson-All we can do is support oneanotherAll we can do is support oneanotherONE OF THOSE NURSESALSO SHARED HERCONCERNS ABOUTNATIONWIDE SHORTAGESOF MEDICATIONS.YOU CAN FIND HER FULLACCOUNT ON OURWEBSITE- KSHB DOT