As the nurse manager in the intensive care unit at Shady Grove Medical Center, Nimeet Kapoor is used to spending a lot of hours tending to patients with a lot of infectious diseases. But the illness and the deaths brought on by COVID-19, he told 草莓传媒, are something else.
He said it means 10- to 12-hour shifts in a unit with 49 beds that usually has 28; it means a lot of “learning as we go,鈥� and it means a lot of time on the phone with people whose loved ones might be slipping away.
鈥淣o school, no books, no education prepares you for what we鈥檙e going through right now,鈥� Kapoor said.
鈥楾he fear is also real鈥�
Very sick people in an ICU is nothing new, 鈥淏ut these patients get sick very fast,鈥� Kapoor said. 鈥淎nd they don鈥檛 have that many other problems 鈥� they strictly have respiratory ailments鈥� from COVID-19.
And while they鈥檙e used to dealing with infectious diseases, the nature and the newness of the virus mean there鈥檚 still a lot they don鈥檛 know 鈥� and that鈥檚 a worry.
鈥淲e are used to seeing a lot of infectious diseases on the floor that we gear up for,鈥� and COVID-19 is no exception, he said.
On the other hand, 鈥淭he fear is also real; I wouldn鈥檛 lie 鈥� the fear is in the back of the mind. But when it comes to the day-to-day activity, it鈥檚 just like any other patient.鈥�
Kapoor said he spends a lot of time on the phone with families of patients, since the nature of COVID-19 means they aren鈥檛 able to spend time with their afflicted loved ones.
鈥淭he families are having a difficult time with it. Some families understand that there鈥檚 a pandemic going on and some don鈥檛,鈥� Kapoor said, adding that he understands. 鈥淚 feel like if it was my loved one, I would want to be close to them as well.鈥�
At Adventist Healthcare, being a faith-based organization, chaplain services are heavily involved with patients, including in their final moments.
鈥淭he nurses, the doctors are usually at bedside during the final moments as well. If it was my loved one passing away, I would want someone to be with them holding their hand to mitigate the situation as much as possible,鈥� Kapoor said.
It鈥檚 a scene Kapoor has seen quite a bit recently, and he said when a patient dies, everyone around the bed takes a pause.
鈥淲hat we do is, we recognize the patient. The chaplain services make the prayer right after, and then we recognize the person and the hard work that we put into it. And then we take a pause for about 15 seconds and then we walk away from it.鈥�
He said the chaplains help the medical staff as much as they do the patients.
鈥淎s health care providers, sometimes we get immune to people passing away around us,鈥� Kapoor said; chaplain services 鈥渂ring us back to reality. 鈥� To, I don鈥檛 know, make us believe that we are humans too, and it鈥檚 OK to be emotional about it and to recognize those emotions.鈥�
All they can do is look out for each other: 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing a lot of checks on each other,鈥� reminding each other 鈥淲e will get out of this on the other end. 鈥� It鈥檚 definitely learning as we go and preparing for what鈥檚 coming.鈥�
That said, 鈥淚t definitely is taking a toll,鈥� Kapoor said. 鈥淚 won鈥檛 lie. It鈥檚 taken a toll on a lot of us.鈥�
鈥榃e have what we need right now鈥�
As to how close to that “other end” the region is, Kapoor is guardedly optimistic.
鈥淚 think we are toward the top 鈥� we are definitely not going toward the bottom of the hill,” He said. “We are either at the top or near the top.鈥�
While hospitals in places such as New York were running out of masks, gowns and gloves 鈥� the personal protective equipment, or PPE, that has become a common term in 2020 鈥� Kapoor said the situation in his hospital was not great, but could be worse. Each nurse gets one mask per shift and discards it at the end of the day. 鈥淲e have what we need right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think if we had more, that would be better.鈥�
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For a lot of people in the D.C. area, putting on gloves and a mask is a new experience 鈥� often a hot, uncomfortable, glasses-fogging experience. But like anything, do it enough times and it becomes part of the routine.
Once the gown and mask and gloves are on, 鈥淚t is uncomfortable in the beginning,鈥� Kapoor said. 鈥淵ou are definitely drenched in sweat, but once you鈥檝e been in there for about a half an hour, you get used to it. 鈥� When you take it off, you realize you鈥檝e had it on for a long time.鈥�
The key to prevention
Asked what people can do to make his work easier, Kapoor鈥檚 answer wasn鈥檛 exactly groundbreaking: social distancing, wearing a mask and washing your hands. It鈥檚 not new advice, but it works.
鈥淭hat is the key to preventing the spread of the virus,鈥� Kapoor said. 鈥淎s a nurse, I鈥榲e been saying this for years. I promote that to my own family members. And they listen, and they don鈥檛 listen sometimes.鈥�
He emphasizes again that even for an experienced nurse, this is new territory.
鈥淚 did not imagine ever in my life that I鈥檇 be doing something remotely close to this, or seeing our society where it鈥檚 at right now. But this is a crisis, and we鈥檙e doing the best we can to get through it.鈥�
草莓传媒鈥檚 Dimitri Sotis contributed to this report.
