“This is a preventable illness”

ICU nurses caring for COVID-19 patients struggle to make sense of where we find ourselves

By Erin Hoover Barnett August 23, 2021 Portland, Oregon

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Respiratory therapist Jenn Ellingson reflected on how much her colleagues have banded together to get through the pandemic. Respiratory therapists have been at the center of care teams attending to COVID-19 patients. (OHSU/Erin Hoover Barnett)

COVID-19 forecast Nov. 24, 2021

A doctor prepares medication for a patient in OHSU's medical intensive care unit Aug. 19. COVID-19 hospitalizations are on a decline. (OHSU/Erin Hoover Barnett)

COVID-19 is preventable

The care team gathers outside a COVID-19 patients room to discuss the patients status and next steps during rounds in OHSUs Medical Intensive Care Unit Aug. 19. (OHSU/Erin Hoover Barnett)

COVID-19 is preventable

Care team members endure a range of emotions while caring for patients amid the COVID-19 surge. (OHSU/Erin Hoover Barnett)

COVID-19 is preventable

Because there is no cure for COVID-19, flipping patients from their backs to their stomachs at regular intervals can help maintain bodily functions, staving off death to give the body a chance to fight the virus. (OHSU/Erin Hoover Barnett)

COVID-19 is preventable

It takes four caregivers and a state-of-the-art sling to flip patients. Many Oregon hospitals, brimming with COVID-19 patients, lack the staff to provide this therapy. (OHSU/Erin Hoover Barnett)

COVID-19 is preventable

Its overwhelming, and it just keeps happening, and there is no end in sight, said Emily Williams, R.N., B.S.N., on the Medical Intensive Care Unit that has been seeing new COVID-19 patients nearly every day. (OHSU/Erin Hoover Barnett)

COVID-19 is preventable

Charge nurse Erin Boni, RN, tells KGW and OPB reporters, The risk is so much higher getting COVID than getting vaccinated. I believe people are trying to make the best decisions for themselves. I just want them to understand: This is a preventable illness. This doesnt have to happen to anyone anymore. (OHSU/Erin Hoover Barnett)

COVID-19 is preventable

Second-year medical student Erin Kinney, foreground, on her preceptorship in the Medical Intensive Care Unit, shadows Mackenzie R. Cook, M.D., assistant professor of surgery, OHSU School of Medicine, (seated) as he prepares tracheotomies for COVID-19 patients who need ventilators for extended periods of time. Its a unique time to be a medical student, said Kinney with Andrew Clift, R.N., B.S.N. (OHSU/Erin Hoover Barnett)