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Shallow Fog Northwell Health nurse: 'This is our calling'
In video, she speaks of the heartache of losing a patient to Covid-19
Each time a patient comes off a ventilator in the intensive care unit at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset these days, the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” plays over the loudspeaker, alerting all staff and patients that a life has been saved.
Elyse Isopo, an ICU nurse practitioner at North Shore, with 20 years experience, spoke of that moment during a 19-minute Facebook Live interview with Northwell Health video producer Rob Hoell on Thursday.
It is an important moment for all in the ICU, as staff members work around the clock battling the Covid-19 virus, which, Isopo said, is yet to let up in the ICU.
People throughout the ICU erupt in cheers and clapping when that Beatles song sounds, Isopo said, noting, “We need those wins, because it keeps us going.”
The number of new hospitalizations across New York state, including in Nassau, appears to be declining, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and County Executive Laura Curran.
The number of ICU patients where Isopo is at, however, continues unabated, she said, “because people who are hospitalized are getting sicker.”
Working in the ICU, she said, “is scary, and real, and rewarding at the same time,” adding, “Everybody has been amazing. It feels like a family.”
One of the hardest parts that patients must endure is the sense of isolation from their families, because visitors are not allowed into the hospital, Isopo said. Patients receive iPads so they can connect with loved ones, but it is not the same as meeting face to face.
If a patient appears near death, only then is family allowed in, she said.
Isopo spoke of one recent case, a patient originally from Korea. The patient asked that Korean music be played in his final moments, and so it was. “It was beautiful,” she said, “and we supported his dying process.”
Such images, however, can also be haunting. “I don’t sleep very well at night,” Isopo said.
She is married with children. Worried about potentially infecting her family, she is careful each night to remove her clothes and shoes and take a shower before entering her home. “After a long day,” she said, “it’s draining.”
Working in the ICU is tough, she said. “It’s very challenging. It’s very difficult. It’s very stressful,” she said. “Everybody is as critical as the next person and the next person.
“It looks like a MASH unit,” she continued. “It’s bed after bed after bed … You walk in there, and you’re in the trenches.”
Isopo said the community has come out in unexpected and welcome ways, showering the nurses and doctors with praise and parades and food. “Seeing everyone in the community looking at us like heroes is very overwhelming and very much appreciated,” she said.
She emphasized, though, that “I never thought of myself as a hero.” The first responders in the field, the police and firefighters, are the heroes, she said.
Isopo said she believes Northwell has provided adequate personal protective equipment to hospital workers throughout the crisis. At first, workers were limited to one N95 mask per week, but now receive a new one daily, she said. Many place surgical masks over their N95 masks as an extra layer of protection to keep fluids off them.
In addition to masks, all workers receive paper scrubs, goggles, face shields and gloves.
She ended by saying people should stay home to reduce the infection and hospitalization rates. “The more people stay home, that helps us,” she said.
To watch the full interview, click here.
