ICU Nurse Describes Her 'Worst Shift' Treating COVID-19 Patients in Emotional Video
A nurse working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York City broke down in an emotional video as she described her “worst shift” since the start of the pandemic.
In her video, D’neil Schmall said she arrived in Manhattan from Washington, DC, at the end of March to help treat COVID-19 patients at a hospital in Brooklyn. She broke down after returning to her hotel room after her shift.
“I don’t know, I just feel like there’s only so much anyone can take,” Schmall said in her video. I’m tired of walking into rooms and your patient’s dead. You just walk into a room, and there’s a dead body there. I’m tired of calling families and telling them that news.”
On Facebook, Schmall said she posted the video because she “thinks it’s important for people to see what we go threw [sic] when we get home.”
“I just feel like people think just because we’re like a healthcare worker that we are somehow immune to this, and we’re not,” Schmall said. “I cried the whole way home in the Uber tonight… and the driver was like, ‘Ma’am, are you OK?’”
Addressing the pressure she and other medical professional are facing, the nurse said “How can I take care of 14 people when I have one tech and they have 30 patients. It’s so bad here, you guys.”
Schmall recommended that medical professionals be provided with additional resources, like counselors and therapists, to help those feeling overwhelmed. Credit: D’neil Schmall via Storyful
