ICU nurse describes nightmare inside hospitals, pleads for people to get COVID-19 vaccine
As an overworked and exhausted ICU nurse, Jill McSparrin pleads for people to do their part.
As an overworked and exhausted ICU nurse, Jill McSparrin pleads for people to do their part.
As an overworked and exhausted ICU nurse, Jill McSparrin pleads for people to do their part.
Nurses in Oklahoma are pleading with people who are hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine by providing a small peek behind the curtain.
Jill McSparrin, an intensive care unit nurse with Integris, described what she and her colleagues are dealing with inside the hospitals.
"I want Oklahomans to know that if they saw what we see every day, they would be in line for the vaccination," McSparrin said.
As an overworked and exhausted ICU nurse, McSparrin pleads for people to do their part. She said she and other nurses and health care professionals are dealing with a nightmare again as COVID-19 patients fill hospital beds.
"I feel like we are having PTSD, depression, anxiety," McSparrin said. "The nurses are exhausted mentally, physically, emotionally."
McSparrin, who shared her story from the ICU at the Healthier Oklahoma Coalition meeting Tuesday, said many nurses are considering a career change because of the COVID-19 surge.
"We are really questioning if we can do another season of this and if this continues on to another season," she said.
She hopes more people are encouraged to get vaccinated, especially with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine this week from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
State health officials said hospitals are treating 70 times more unvaccinated patients for COVID-19 than vaccinated patients.
"There will not be enough beds. There will not be enough ICU nurses if you don't get the vaccination," McSparrin said.