MACON, Ga. — This week marks two years since the World Health Organization declared the first day of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“At the very, very beginning, everybody – obviously – was terrified,” said registered nurse Lesley Andrews about her first COVID patient encounter. “Over time we kind of got to where we owned our patients. Now, if another surge happens, my unit that I’m in, we kind of feel like those are our babies.”
Andrews says there were constant meetings with hospital directors when the pandemic started. She’s worked for Atrium Health for eight years. They had to learn quickly how to treat infected patients.
She says working in the ICU was difficult, but something she was used to. She says there wasn’t a lot the staff could do for patients who were extremely sick with the virus, and the hospital helped them manage the patients.
"It was really a one nurse to one patient type deal, and then we kind of figured what all it took and what our days looked like, then we went back to our standard two patient to one nurse ICU ratio,” said Andrews.
Atrium Health Navicent Chief Nursing Officer Tracey Blalock says they’ve been working to support nursing staff during this time.
“This is an initiative that is not only local but will be through the enterprise of Atrium. It’s also an initiative that the ANA has put on the front burner,” said Blalock.
Blalock said the pandemic was challenging, but also rewarding.
"For many of us that are in healthcare to see how the care that our teams have provided in such a crisis situation, that has made a difference in the patients that we cared for and their lives," Blalock said.
Andrews says that nurses have received help from nurse leadership and would be ready if another surge happened. She has a message for those who come to the hospital.
“Be patient with your healthcare,” she said.