NEW ORLEANS — We’re hearing from virtually all levels of healthcare that hospitals and their staff are being pushed to their limits. Unlike the previous waves of the pandemic, we’re seeing less public gratitude for the doctors, nurses and caregivers on the front lines.
If some of us are tired of the pictures and headlines describing COVID’s grip on hospitals across Louisiana, it’s only fair to consider the exhaustion nurses and doctors are feeling.
“It can lead to so many issues of stress, for the caregivers. To be the last person to hold that patient’s hand when maybe you have nothing else to give, and you have to find it in yourself to give that bit more so that person doesn’t die alone, that can be heavy burden,” said Dr. Michelle Collins, the dean of the College of Nursing and Health at Loyola University.
The pandemic has probably warped our sense of time, but it wasn’t too long ago when healthcare workers were saluted in spectacular fashion. In the initial waves of COVID, flyovers by the likes of the Blue Angels delivered messages of thanks across the sky. People offered thanks on the ground too.
Remember people banging pots and pans when nurses and doctors got off their shifts at the end of the day? During this fourth surge, which hospitals consider the most severe so far, some of the loudest displays have been against the advice of health officials.
“You’re lying to the general public. There is more science and data to say that masks and the vaccine is harming our children,” said Tony Spell at a public meeting of the BESE Board to address mask requirements at schools.
Spell is the outspoken pastor from Baton Rouge who has actively criticized various COVID restrictions.
On Monday, Dr. Joe Kanter, the state’s head medical officer got heckled by some members of the public who attended his testimony before state legislators. Dr. Kanter was there to explain the efficacy of vaccines and masking.
As much as they can, hospitals have pulled back the curtain for us to see the reality of the Delta variant. COVID patients are suffering and dying.
While we do have the right to express our views, it wouldn’t hurt for us to once again, show some gratitude to those working to save lives.