How nurses cope during the COVID-19 pandemic
Turning my tassel during my nursing graduation ceremony was a dream come true. I was eager to begin doing what I had dreamed about for the last four years. Like every other one of my classmates, I was about to commence my nursing career in a hospital setting. I started off in a busy pediatric emergency department in February 2020. At first, everything was exactly what I had imagined. A motivating orientation, a supportive preceptor and a great team to join.
March 2020 rolled around and everything changed. The COVID-19 pandemic came and affected every moving part of the unit. The remainder of 2020 was filled with fear and uncertainty. Our unit was dealing with staff and personal protective equipment shortages and had to quickly adapt to treat a virus we knew very little about. Mid-December 2020, the COVID-19 vaccine was released and with the gradual reopening of businesses and schools the floodgates opened. We were inundated with patients coming in.
Our patients battling chronic illnesses were coming in very ill mostly due to missed routine appointments because of the pandemic. There weren't enough nurses to care for a large number of patients, many of whom were high acuity requiring a lot of interventions. We continued enduring these trying times for the rest of 2021. I found myself in a constant state of mental and physical exhaustion. The feelings of excitement and eagerness turned into dread and regret.
I never expected to be feeling symptoms of burnout so soon in my nursing career, but I did. I lost the sense of accomplishment and everything just seemed like a never-ending to-do list. In early 2022 I decided it was time to seek new opportunities and improve my quality of life. While searching for my next position, I learned about School Health Partners. After I familiarized myself with the company and its mission, the possibility seemed like the perfect fit. While school nursing was never on my radar it has been such a fulfilling experience. School nursing has its own set of challenges that encompass a different nursing approach. However, I am still able to treat the medical needs of children and interact with their families daily.
School Health Partners has given me the chance to explore the versatility of nursing while simultaneously improving my overall well-being. I find I am in a much better place and once again feel self-satisfied with being a pediatric nurse.