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The toll on healthcare worker's mental health may be one of the least told stories of covid-19.
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We hear a lot about the death tolls, but what is really being glossed over, other than the horror stories, is the mental toll of Long Term Care, geriatric care, and home health providers.
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These are the CNA's, nurses, administration, and front line providers, who see this on a daily basis. They care for the elderly and residents with comorbidities and at risk for serious complications.
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These are the healthcare workers who see their resident's health decline, do their best to stabilize and treat them, often to no avail.
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They are the people who may be the last ones to talk to your loved ones, the workers who see and hear your grief when they pass away.
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They are the ones who not only have to comfort you and assure you that they did all they could for your loved one, but other family members as well.
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They put on a strong face each and every time, but what happens when they leave the facility or residence? What happens when the PPE and scrubs come off?
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My wife has been a nurse for 17 years, to say that I've never seen her react like this to her residents before is an understatement. Facilities can't, by law, allow any non-provider into the building. This means that family members often don't get to say their goodbyes.
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It's incredibly difficult for a nurse to just detach, to not show empathy, to be "just a nurse" and still feel human.
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At the end of the shift, when they get home or back to their hotel room, the emotions often come pouring out. Sometimes it's behind closed doors, sometimes on the shoulder of their spouse.
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But this is the time when they don't have to be strong, when they can wrap their head around their day and all they have seen. It's their time to feel normal again, if only for a moment, then prepare to do it all over again the next shift.
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