In the last 18 months I lost an uncle to COVID, the hospital where he died in Montana did not allow visitation, and he died with only the nurses there. His wife of over 60 years did not get to say goodbye. I have had friends and colleagues lose their lives, too. In the hospital, I have seen far, far too many young people die from COVID, those people will never get to see their kids grow up, never get to walk them down the aisle, never get to hold their grandchildren in their arms. I have seen more people than I want to count with long-term damage to their hearts and lungs because of COVID. Those people will never be the same. I have colleagues who have completely left the healthcare profession because of the stress and emotional toll COVID took upon them. I have had more than one colleague in recent weeks say to me, “I don’t think I can do this again”.
I have been a nurse for nearly 30 years. Between working in the Emergency Room and the Intensive Care Unit, I have seen some awful things. But few things I have seen are worse than COVID. People who die from COVID have horrible suffering, and because of the way the disease transmits, they go through that suffering for the most part in the company of strangers. The doctors and nurses in COVID ICU’s do have some ability now to let people visit, either live or virtually, but its just not the same for people as having their loved ones constantly at their side holding their hand during their final days.
The COVID vaccination is very safe. Millions of vaccines have been given across the world to date with only a handful of bad long-term effects. These vaccines are not only safe, they are among the safest of all vaccines out there. The initial side effects are not always fun, but they only last a day or so. The biggest thing with this vaccine is that the vaccine works to keep people alive. Yes, some vaccinated people are getting the variants, but they are so much more unlikely to be hospitalized even if they do get COVID, which in of itself is rare. A recent analysis of breakthrough COVID infections in vaccinated people showed that for every 102,000 people vaccinated for COVID, only 100 people will have symptomatic infections, and of those 100, there is only one death. In other words, if you get vaccinated, the chances of getting symptomatic COVID are less than 1:1000, and the chances of dying from COVID are less than 1:100,000. The vaccines actually work better than the initial vaccine studies reported.
I absolutely and fully respect the rights of individuals to make decisions about their own healthcare. That is not just a personal thing, that is my duty and obligation by both ethics and law as a Registered Nurse. Having said that, if you are reading this and have not been vaccinated, I am begging you to take the COVID vaccine. COVID is rapidly increasing here in the Basin, and I do not want to lose anyone else in this community to this awful illness. The best way I can put this is by quoting a friend. He said, “When is the last time anyone you know had polio, or rubella, or smallpox? Vaccines work.”
Please stay safe as we are seeing COVID cases rise again in our community. Please consider wearing a mask, always wash your hands, avoid touching your face, social distance as much as possible, and please get vaccinated if you haven’t done so.
