'It is soul-destroying': Cork ICU nurse tells public that lockdown is a necessity, not a punishment

Theresa O'Brien said that while it is heartbreaking, she needs to maintain some positivity even when a patient's outlook doesn't look good.

A Cork ICU nurse has described the "soul-destroying" impact Covid-19 is having on frontline healthcare workers and has pleaded with people to stay at home. 

Theresa O'Brien, Clinical Nurse Manager at Cork University Hospital, has spoken out in an effort to get people to understand what frontline healthcare workers are faced with every day.

"Lockdown is not a punishment, it's a necessity. I am begging them to stay at home so that my job will get a bit better and that these people, these patients don't have to suffer."

Speaking to The 96FM Opinion Line with PJ Coogan, Ms O'Brien spoke of the impact the pandemic is having on healthcare workers who see so many lives being taken by the virus.

She said it was extremely tough to see a patient, that she had met and made a personal connection with when they first arrived at the hospital, in ICU and to know that they might not make it through.

It is soul-destroying that we are losing these patients.

But Ms O'Brien said that while it is heartbreaking, she tries to maintain some positivity even when a patient's outlook doesn't look good.

She said it is important not only for the patient but for the other nurses so that they don't become disillusioned.

"It is going to have an effect on medical health care professionals. When we see that effect will be down the line but we will all have to be rethinking how we feel about working in ICU or going into this level of traumatic work every day. 

"It will take its toll."

Ms O'Brien said that right now staff have high levels of stress and anxiety but they are just learning to control it so they are able to go in and do their jobs each day.

"The most important thing for me is to go in to work and help save these people."

Many hospitals don't have the staff to cope with the sheer number of Covid patients, especially when numerous healthcare workers are unavailable for work because of Covid-19.

While there are volunteers and redeployed staff helping out, the workload is still exhausting.

"The patients are extremely unwell and unstable most of the shift. It's not just for an hour or two during the day. They are unstable constantly - day and night.

"So a night is just as busy as a day and you need the same amount of staff by night as you do by day. 

We are just struggling with that at the minute. There are just not enough nurses and doctors to deal with all of this.

Aside from the mental and emotional toll the pandemic is having on staff, there is also the physical impact.

Workers are always wearing full PPE gear which can cause them to sweat and feel overheated. There are times while wearing PPE that they can go for three hours without any break.

Ms O'Brien said there are days when she and her team don't get to take a break at all.

"We do have to make the effort to take breaks because we need to stay hydrated and nurses have fainted while in PPE. Part of my job is to safeguard those nurses so you're co-ordinating breaks and you're making sure."

In her 31 years of nursing and her 15 years running the ICU, Ms O'Brien said she could never have imagined anything like this would happen.

"You would see this kind of exaggerated thing on tv but never did I think it would hit my front door."