Traveling Nurses

Frontline workers continue the fight against covid-19.

Doctor, rn's and travel nurses are working long shifts to care for patients with the virus and symptoms.

Frontline workers continue the fight against covid-19.

Doctor, rn's and travel nurses are working long shifts to care for patients with the virus and symptoms. our stephanie poole speaks with two nurses about their experience during the pandemic.

She joins us in the studio with more.

Joey, many medical workers begin their morning clocking into a full covid units.

éé with a recent surge in positive cases, several wards are full to capacity on a local and national scale.

éé "covid-19 is tricky and it changes minute by minute.

A patient can be in satisfactory condition doing pretty well.

An hour later they can go downhill very quickly."

Paige jorgensen is a respiratory therapist from new york.

She's currently working at dch regional medical center in tuscaloosa.

Jorgensen says it's considered a hot spot for coronavirus.

" i've seen many patients from 20 to 40 with no serious health conditions pass away from this disease.

So though it may not affect everyone drastically, the chance is still there."

One of the biggest misconceptions, jorgenson says, is just how seriousness it can be.

" the situation is quite grim when you see it rom the inside.

We're doing the best we can everyday with what we have working out hardest.

We're trying new things, trying things that have shown improvements for others.

" butt sots " we try to keep the doors closed at all times.

We limit our contact and we don't try to be in the room anymore than we have to.

We do basically bundle our care and get in and try to let the patient rest."

Jasmine thomas is a graduate of the mississippi university for women school of nursing.

She has worked in three different covid units since the pandemic began.

She's traveled from new jersey, new york, and is now stationed at main methodist hospital in san antonio, texas.

" here in bear county, we report numbers daily.

For yesterday, i can re-call there were 301 news cases reported.

In the county, we have over 69-thousand cases since this pandemic has started."

Jorgensen and thomas are treating nearly 18 covid patients and working 12 hours shifts.

They say hospitals are even switching up the way patients receive their treatment.

" the iv pumps,how the rn controls the medicine.

All that's outside the room now.

So we try to provide them with patient care as much as possible just without a-lot of contact."

Butt sots " you have to gown up.

Put all your ppe on.

Then you take it off, leave the room, and do it all over again so it can be very time consuming so we just try to stay on top on things as much as we can so we can try to conserve ppe."

Both agree, while the future of the coronavirus is unknown, it's following guidelines is the best way to tackle it.

" it's just a little nerve-wrecking to know, where is the end to of this?"

At this time, most traveling nurses are choosing to stay at their assigned hospital longer to lower the risk of transmission