COVID-19. Something that we have seen directly impacts the world as a whole. People have lost jobs, families are getting sick, and the death rate is climbing higher every day that passes. We are now coming out with vaccines and booster shots to help our communities stay safe and healthy but one of the places that are being impacted as well are our hospitals. A big question though, is how much has it impacted our healthcare?

Hospitals are something that everyone has come to rely on. They are the place where we go if you break an arm, get sick, or even a place to go if you are having a baby. Throughout our lives, we see and hear about how hospitals are the place to go when we need medical help. Each hospital has lots of staff who are working every day and night to help their communities. Then comes COVID-19. This pandemic has come through and wiped out place after place. Leaving those who had jobs without one or working from home, shutting down our schools, and cleaning out stores of the necessities all of us need. While it may seem hard to see, the same things have happened in our hospitals. We have lost our nursing staff and had ERs filled with the expected emergencies and now with our coronavirus cases as well.

One issue that we are finding is a lack of resources. In all businesses including hospitals, we need our resources to make sure that everyone can continue working and keeping up to date which is hard to do when your much-needed resources are becoming harder to obtain. This is something that can be very scary especially when looking at our hospitals. Hospitals are the place where we go to get better but that is unable to happen as quickly if they lack the materials to do so. There is an article from the Lost Coast Outpost written back on September 15th, 2021, talking about how COVID-19 has affected one of our most important wings of the hospital, the ICU. The article is surrounding an interview with two nurses who are anonymous with the imputed names of Teresa and Iris. One part of the article in particular where there begins to be a conversation focusing on the number of beds that are available in the ICU compared to the number of patients. In the interview, Teresa says, “[If a new patient is] ICU status, and they need a bed, and we don’t have a bed? Well, if we have a patient that can be downgraded, we would downgrade another patient. Otherwise, we look for a place to transfer them to, which is very, very difficult right now, too, because every hospital is full.” This is something to worry about because COVID has affected our community so much that we don’t even have enough beds in our hospitals to help everyone.

We also are seeing that the coronavirus has made our hospitals become overwhelmed with new patients of all ages who are all relying on the hospital and its staff to help make them healthy again. Looking back at an article from September of last year, we learn that for some nurses this outbreak has taken over. “Providence brought on eight new traveling caregivers last week — six intensive care unit RNs and two respiratory therapists — according to a Wednesday press statement from Providence. The nurses quit the very next day.”(4 of 6 Traveling Nurses Quit St. Joseph Hospital, Times-Standard). We are learning that while some of those with jobs are having to leave or work from home for hospitals that isn’t a choice. In another interview for the same article, the author found, “Matthew Miele, an emergency room nurse at Providence St. Joseph Hospital, said he had noticed more traveling nurses around the hospital but did not know four had quit.”’. This gives us a clue about how busy our hospitals have been. Throughout COVID, the number of people arriving at the hospital has gone up in that area alone. They later on noted in that same article that they will be continuing to look for new staff as time goes on because it is of great importance. I interviewed Katherine Anderson, who works as the Infection Prevention and Employee Health Nurse at Jerold Phelps in Garberville, and learned even more on this topic from her. When asked if COVID-19 has caused the hospital to be busier she told me that despite Jerold Phelps being a smaller hospital than some others, it has become busier. Along with that, she said, “For my job as infection prevention/employee health nurse here at the hospital I have also been busier as I have had to keep track of employees who are having symptoms, review their test results, educate those who test positive on isolation guidelines, return to work information and also answer numerous questions from employees and community members as they attempt to figure out what to do if exposed to someone who is positive.’. It is becoming more and more clear as time goes on that COVID has affected hospitals worldwide and as we can see.

Along with the worries about lack of resources as well as not having enough staff another concern is the mental health of our workers. In an article composed of data collected by Mental Health America (MHA), a non-profit organization based in Virginia, I learned, “Stress was the most commonly reported feeling, with 93 percent of healthcare workers indicating that they had regularly experienced stress in the last three months. This was followed by anxiety (86 percent), frustration (77 percent), exhaustion or burnout (76 percent), and feeling overwhelmed (75 percent). Gratitude, hope, and pride were reported by fewer people, although nearly a third (31 percent) reported that they regularly felt gratitude.”(The Mental Health Care of Workers In COVID-19, Mental Health Matters). This is of great significance seeing as the Corona Virus has added to the stress levels of our healthcare system since the pandemic alone. Mental health can affect the way that people think, as well as how they interact with people in their daily lives. It is worrisome to think that one of our essential workforces is going through this daily. In the same interview with Katherine Anderson, I asked “What has been like to work during these busy and stressful times?”. She informed me, “It has been stressful trying to stay up to date on ever changing information. The information being provided by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) changes often as more information is learned and as new variants come out and this requires me to try to stay up to date on the information and sometimes the information is confusing and seems to be conflicting. Also there have been a few times when I have felt like I am being the “bad guy” when I have to inform people that they can’t come in to visit their family member or friend due to their vaccination status. There have been times when I have been brought to tears even because of this. It is a horrible feeling to know that someone might not get their loved one with them when they are frightened and vulnerable.”. Her response is extremely helpful in trying to see how the lives of hospital employees have been since this pandemic occurred. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have to experience the feelings that she, as well as others, are going through every day and it shows how dedicated they are to their work and helping others.

After taking a look into those three main factors in our hospital systems, I, as well as hopefully others, have been shown how much COVID has made an impact on our hospitals. From losing the number of beds that are available, to low staffing, to being both stressed and anxious while working and at home, it is clear that our hospitals have had to fight back on a pandemic that has changed our lives greatly. Our hospitals are a great resource in our communities and we should all be grateful for the work and sacrifices that they have made to keep our homes and families as safe and healthy as they can.