Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard - Pandemic Heroes and Heroines - Doctors and Nurses on the Front Line

Doctors and Nurses on the Front Line

by

Marguerite Guzmn Bouvard

Academica Press

WashingtonLondon

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bouvard, Marguerite (author)

Title: Pandemic heroes and heroines : doctors and nurses on the front line | Bouvard, Marguerite

Description: Washington : Academica Press, 2021. | Includes references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021944682 | ISBN 9781680538991 (hardcover) | 9781680539004 (paperback) | 9781680539011 (e-book)

Copyright 2021 Marguerite Bouvard

PREVIOUS WORK BY MARGUERITE G. BOUVARD, PH.D

• Social Justice at the Grass Roots, Academica Press.
• Social Justice and the Power of Compassion, Rowman & Littlefield.
• Mothers of Adult Children, Lexington Books.
• The Invisible Wounds of War: Coming Home from Iraq and Afghanistan, Prometheus Books.
• Revolutionizing Motherhood: The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Rowman & Littlefield.
• Women Reshaping Human Rights: How Extraordinary Activists Are Changing the World, Rowman & Littlefield.
• The Path Through Grief: A Compassionate Guide, Prometheus Books.

With thanks to Dr. David Morrow, Dr. Federico Vallejo, Dr. Ann Bajart, The National Nurses United, Jacques Bouvard, Dr. Mary Rosser, Pierre Bouvard, Michle Cloonan, Ph.D, and all the physicians and nurses who shared their concerns and their stories.

This is the apocalypse

A daffodil has poked its head up

from the dirt and opened

sunny arms to blue skies

yet I am filled with

dark and anxious dread

as theaters close as travel ends and

grocery stores display their empty shelves

where toilet paper, liquid bleach

and bags of flour stood in upright ranks

My stomach twists and fingers shake

as I prepare to work the battleground

the place Ive always loved and felt at home

is now a field of droplets sprayed across a room

or lurking on a handle or a sink to find their way

inside our trusting hands or mouths or eyes

the ones that touch you when youre sick

speak soothing words and seek the answer to your pain.

This is the apocalypse

as spring begins again

and brightly colored flowers

display in my backyard

the neighbors walk their dogs

and march along the quiet streets

I stretch my purple gloves on steady hands

I tie my yellow gown behind my back

my hair inside a blue bouffant

my mouth and nose and eyes are

still and calm inside their waiting shields.

This is the apocalypse.

Elizabeth Mitchell M.D.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, physicians have responded in novel ways to the stress and trauma of so many deaths. One lifted her arms in prayer while she was working with patients. Others found different ways of dealing with the psychic wounds of so much misery. Yet another, Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell, wrote a beautiful poem that was published in The New York Times along with other poems inspired by the crisis. She is a physician in the emergency room at the Boston Medical Center who had felt comfortable because she was used to treating and healing patients facing tragedies such as the Boston Marathon bombing. However, the spread of the coronavirus filled her with something she had never experienced before: fear and anxiety. It was not only the virus that reached into her deepest feelings, but the absence of testing, and the shortage of the protective gear she so needed. Dr. Jorge Mercado was on the front lines at the time New York City was overcome with a surge of coronavirus patients, and when both diagnoses and treatment were yet to be found. He responded with a multifaceted approach, both philosophical and medical.

Most people dont realize that while under normal circumstances physicians and nurses can experience stress and exhaustion, and the Covid-19 pandemic introduced unprecedented challenges. Many healthcare workers were traumatized by the number of deaths that happened under their watch. In fact because of the high rate of critically ill, patients, the ranks of doctors and nurses are beginning to thin out. By the end of December 2020, as the number of cases and deaths surged, so many frontline workers were suffering from fatigue, anxiety and depression come became ill themselves, and others committed suicide. Physicians like Dr. Schwarcz were experiencing PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) from working too many hours with an overwhelming number of patients. Some hospitals didnt have enough ventilators, and they kept hearing Code Blue after Code blue of deaths as they were struggling with an excessive number of patients. Medical workers also had to deal with widespread misinformation about mask wearing and social distancing which made their work even more difficult. Some physicians like Dr. Federico Vallejo who were overwhelmed by the number of coronavirus patients in the early days, started a very successful TikTok program to educate people about the virus.

The coronavirus appeared at the beginning of February 2020 when a young person entered the U.S. from a trip to Wuhan, China. Shortly after, there was a breakout that few people became immediately aware about. When Biogen, a Cambridge Biotech company, held a conference in Boston with executives from several countries, conference participants hands with each other and gathered not only during the meetings, but also over meals at their hotels. Unbeknownst to them was that some were infected with the virus and as a result, 300,000 infections spread out around the world including two percent in the U.S.

Then there were casualties among medical workers that people are largely unaware of. For example, during the five months of the virus surge, nurses still didnt have the PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) that they critically need as they are the most vulnerable in the pandemic. They were working with more patients than ever before in an understaffed situation. According to the National Nurses United, the countrys largest union of registered nurses which represents 170,000 nurses across the country, 3,300 health care workers have died of the virus as of January 2021. Nurses worked for weeks without wearing protective N95 masks and while reusing PPEs. Seventy- nine percent of these workers had not been tested, and 76 percent felt that their employers were not providing them with a safe environment. This puts them at a greater risk of contacting the virus.

Nurses in hospitals and health care facilities are experiencing increased levels of violence during the pandemic. This is due to a number of factors ranging from inadequate staffing of health care services, to stress, fear, and anger resulting from illness and loss. Representative Joe Courtney, (D-CT) introduced a bill in Congress HR 1195, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act. It passed the House, but it is still pending approval in the Senate. National Nurses United is holding rallies in support of the proposed legislation..