I work in the intensive care unit at a small community hospital in Ohio. I continue to be consumed by COVID-19 and its destruction, with no end in sight, like many pulmonary and critical care physicians across the country.
Three years ago, I became board certified in my specialties. My second home now is a 24 bed intensive care unit filled with COVID-19 patients on ventilators, medically paralyzed and flipped on their stomachs, with many more patients waiting to enter. Sometimes in the midst of the vital sign alarms, overhead code blue alert, and end-of-life family meetings, I ponder how much longer this pace can be sustained.
It is difficult to name all of the health care resources that have neared exhaustion, with ventilators, personal protective equipment, emergency room and intensive care unit beds, physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other essential health care. It is clear that an underappreciated health care resource deserving mention, which is now quickly dwindling, is morale.
Health care professionals are trained to alleviate sickness and restore health to their patients. Rarely do these workers confront illnesses that are not already treated with evidence-based remedies. New and highly contagious diseases can surface quickly, spread widely, and wreak havoc on our lives.
The scientific community has always met the necessary challenges with graceful determination when health crises occur. In the last two years, the health science community has seen the rapid discovery, testing, and distribution of disease-specific therapies, which is nothing short of remarkable.
Within one year of the first recorded case, the COVID-19 vaccine was widely implemented in the United States, and is documented to drastically reduce morbidity and mortality. Again, hopes were surging; surely this was the panacea we all needed. Life would be restored to some semblance of normal.
To no fault of vaccines, which have exceeded expectations. The unvaccinated have been shown to experience more sickness and death than the vaccine-vaccinated. Since the widespread adoption of vaccination, for every 20 deaths from COVID-19, 18 are unvaccinated and two are vaccine-free, and for every 50 hospital admissions attributable to COVID-19, 43 are unvaccinated and 7 are vaccine-free.
My conversations with emergency room doctors about potential ICU admissions are often abbreviated to simply asking, "Vaccinated?" A yes or no answer often gives more information about the patient than the medical chart can provide. We would be hard-pressed to find a better treatment than these vaccines.
Human lives are still being lost as hospitals continue to exceed capacity and exhaustion of health care resources persist. Why? The answer is simple, and controversial: Not enough Americans have been vaccinations.
Human lives are still being lost as hospitals exceed capacity, exhaustion of vital health care resources persist, and the capacity of hospitals is still being exceeded. Why? The answer is simple, and controversial: Americans haven't been given enough vaccinations. The lack of vaccine take-up is not due to barriers that impede access to health care, like cost, supply, or insurance restrictions, but due to vaccine skepticism.
I evaluated an unvaccinated patient last week. He refused to bevaccinated despite gasping for breaths from an oxygen tank and being completely debilitated. I am not a fan of those vaccines. I was going to scream at the top of my lungs, but I restrained myself, bit my tongue, and nodded with a smile.
Our country has always prided itself on free will, freedom of choice, and autonomy. These sacred values are being twisted and are keeping our nation in danger. It's difficult to explain the magnitude of frustration that health care workers feel.
As another wave of the Pandemic is upon us, health care workers are once again faced with unprecedented levels of sickness, disability, and death that is preventable. Health care workers are just like everyone else, and are subject to human feelings and emotions. I have never experienced resentment or cynicism at unvaccinated patients. Choices that allow this epidemic to spread and destroy lives and families. Staffing shortages are common throughout the country in all health care disciplines.
The solutions to medical staff shortages do not seem to be related to financial rewards. Health care workers have never been offered such high salaries, stipends, and bonuses before, but the shortages persist. The crux of the problem is that health care workers are at all-time lows in their resolve, and money fails to address that.
One anecdote I heard at the end of a 12-hour shift encapsulated the issue at hand perfectly: "Come back tomorrow?" asked one bedside nurse to another. Absolutely not. I am off. You didn't have enough money to get me here tomorrow. Is there anything more demoralizing than being exposed to preventable sickness and death on a grand scale due to illogical and irresponsible choices?
Maybe there is. More and more sick patients are having difficulty accessing care due to the burdens imposed on our health care system by the Pandemic. Emergency room waiting times are at an all-time high, there are not enough hospital and intensive care unit beds, and there is a scarcity of vital resources. Our system is in a state of disrepair and is neglecting common and easily treatable in-hospital medical conditions like diabetes, myocardial infarction, stroke, and sepsis. I had to turn away a 19-year-old patient in a coma due to a lack of available ICU beds and appropriate staffing. Patients and their families are frustrated, as well as health care workers. Being unable to care for patients due to resource limitations is something that many health care workers have never experienced. It is difficult to swallow and adds to the frightening nature of our new reality.
Health care workers have never been offered such high salaries, stipends, and bonuses, but the shortages persist. The crux of the problem is that health care workers are at all-time lows in their resolve, and money fails to address that.
I am frustrated and concerned about our nation's path as we enter year three. Most of us don't want financial rewards. We want answers to our unanswered questions. I can not help but think of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the broadcasts he made during the Great Depression and World War II. FDR was able to instill hope in times of widespread fear and despair through honest, clear, and inspiring communication.
Our health care community is in dire need of uplifting leadership and direction, similar to others that have experienced crisis in our nation's history. To those in charge, I plead with you to remind us why we chose this profession in the first place. We can work toward a better future if we are assured that we still serve a purpose. This isn't an impossible task that requires congressional approval, unlike most political deadlocks that plague our nation. It takes inspired and motivated leaders willing to connect with the disgruntled frontline workers. This small investment of our leaders' time will help to restore our community's spirits, which will lead to countless downstream benefits as our nation tries to recover.
Dr. Chertoff is a board-certified physician in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and critical care medicine. He obtained a master's degree in public health from Columbia University in 2010 after completing his undergraduate studies as a biology major from the same university in 2000. Dr. Chertoff has interests in management of sepsis and septic shock, ARDS, interstitial lung disease, asthma, and other lung-related diseases. Dr. Chertoff enjoys spending time with his family when he isn't working.
Do you have a story you would like to tell? Send us a pitch if you know what we are looking for.
The article was originally on HuffPost.
More from HuffPost.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
