A Nurse Copes with the COVID-19 Crisis

This article is part of LinkedIn's Hard Cases series, where healthcare professionals share their stories working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can see more articles by following hashtag?#HardCases.

By David Lubarsky?

In spring 2020, a number of UC Davis Health providers used their vacation time or took leave to volunteer in New York City, a place that had quickly become America’s COVID-19 epicenter.??

One of those was Paula Wagner, a nurse practitioner in outpatient urology. She returned to UC Davis Medical Center in May 2020 after spending 13 days in New York.??

“The locals working in the EDs there from the start are superhuman,” Wagner?told the UC Davis Health news service. “At the peak, people there worked 20-30 days straight.”?

No one complained, she said. “Nobody said to me, ‘I’m tired.’ They just showed up every day and helped every person they could because that’s what they do. That’s who they are.”?

Wagner had volunteered at Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn (a public hospital officially named NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island). She worked 12-hour shifts like everyone there and walked two miles to and from her hotel. The images she describes from those bleak days in early 2020 are powerful even today.?

“What was most surprising for me was the lack of essential equipment,” she said. “Things like caps for IVs, disposable tape measures, disinfectant wipes. We used wall hand sanitizer and put it on paper towels. It was even difficult to find a pen.”?

Wagner packed a suitcase with masks donated by Noah Canvasser, a UC Davis assistant professor of urology, for her use and to donate to others. Later, she spoke about the influx of patients in the New York City hotspot.?

“The flow was constant. My team saw 16 people my first day. There were still patients coming in on ambulances requiring intubation and central line placement on a daily basis.”?

For all the toughness and caring of the New Yorkers, Wagner said, she could see how the effort, the difficult choices and the losses have taken a toll on the health care workers.?

“In the break room or after a shift, a lot of people were resistant to even talking about their experience at the height of the curve,” Wagner said. “I think it was very stressful and very traumatic for them to see how fast patients got sick. The care teams would do so much intervention, but patients wouldn’t improve. That’s hard to see.”?

When Wagner returned to Sacramento, she had to isolate before returning to the medical center, and she had some time to reflect on her experience on the frontlines in New York City.??

“I keep thinking, the health care people there are amazing. And I keep thinking about all the kind and brilliant things our people do here,” she said. “There are so many wonderful people in health care. It’s always good to remember that.”?

Research, partnerships, education?

Wagner reflects UC Davis Health’s approach to?helping our people and communities, here in Sacramento and beyond. Early on in the pandemic, we opened?free COVID-19 testing sites across Sacramento County?and in several underserved communities, and our hospital and clinics were open for any patients who needed care. As we looked for a new normal, our experts continually updated?recommendations?as the scientific guidelines in California and across the nation revealed frequently changed, especially in response to new strains like the Delta variant.??

And when the vaccine became available, we moved as quickly as possible to get the vaccine to our frontline staff and at risk patients, and then forged partnerships with many community organizations like La Familia in LatinX communities and churches in our local African American communities, and partnered with organizations as disparate as the Mexican consulate serving their nationals, and Ellica, an FQHC that was a primary caregiver to our large Russian immigrant community.??

While all of this ongoing effort by our people providing the latest information and providing the underserved local service generated no revenue, there was truly a great intrinsic reward in us doing so.?We made our community stronger and healthier, more unified and more equitable.?With the new FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine, we hope to reach more of those with vaccine uncertainty and guide them to accepting this life-saving drug.?

Every day, we’re helping patients at our hospital and?neighborhood clinics. Even if the pandemic wanes soon as we hope, there will still be a need for our?Post-COVID-19 clinic, one of just a handful in the United States. It is open for?long haulers?and offers comprehensive care for people who suffer lasting symptoms.?We not only provide treatment but hope to provide insights as our amazing researchers attempt to unveil the causes and treatments for this lingering illness.?

Since early 2020, our experts have?launched dozens of COVID-19 research projects, including vaccine trials,?and led the way in?setting COVID-19 standards?at the state and national levels. This includes developing safety standards for surgeons and authoring guidelines for caring for pregnant mothers and newborns.?

As you can see, UC Davis Health?is?on the frontlines, each and every day. Our providers like Paula Wagner, the nurse who helped out in New York City, rose to the call of duty as a true professional.??I am truly proud of her and to work among all our staff who care for patients so well.?

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