Even as the surge of COVID-19 cases recedes, the pandemic is still presenting challenges to hospitals, and opportunities.
Nursing students from Western Kentucky University are on the front lines with seasoned health care workers as the pandemic forces all hands on deck.
Katie Myers from Louisville is a third-semester nursing student who will graduate in May. She’s been doing clinicals in the intensive care unit at the Medical Center in Bowling Green. She spoke to WKU Public Radio about her experience, which she said has opened her eyes to the stress health care workers face.
“There’s simply sometimes not enough beds for these really sick patients and it’s really hard to see health care workers having to make tough calls on which patient is going to get this bed for this higher level of care that needs it," stated Myers. "That’s been the hardest part about this, I think.”
Despite working under the most challenging circumstances, Myers says it hasn’t made her re-evaluate her career choice. In fact, it’s made her want to work even more in critical care nursing.