JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As Florida nears a grim milestone, 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, doctors and nurses on the front lines are feeling the strain.
As of Monday, the number of confirmed cases in the state was 999,319. That means nearly 1 in 21 people have had or have the coronavirus.
With this, health care workers are feeling the effects of long hours and increased patients loads.
“Our goal is to make sure that the patients are taken care of and helped,” said Diana Budnik, RN, BSN-BC, a nurse for a Jacksonville-area hospital.
She admits it’s tiring for front-line workers who are not only treating sick patients but also putting themselves and their families at risk.
“I think it’s just a concern that the staff will get it and then not be able to provide care for the patients,” she said. “Because if too many staff members get sick, then the patients don’t have the nurses to take care of them. It is exhausting because the amount of patients that are coming to the hospitals have increased with the concerns for COVID-19.”
The fatigue isn’t just for hospital workers, it’s across the board -- from first responders with the fire department to those at urgent and primary care centers.
“We’re still around a 10% positive rate on a daily basis,” said Saman Soleymani, MD, of Avecina Medical. “Some days a little bit less, some days a little bit more.”
He and his team have been testing and treating thousands of patients; some staff members have gotten sick as a result.
“My biggest concern is on my parents who are both over 70,” he said. “They love their grandkids and I want to see their grandkids. The fear is always me taking something to my parents, something to my kids.”
But it doesn’t change this mission: doctors and nurses say they’re committed to taking care of the sick no matter how big the task.
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December 01, 2020 at 04:22AM
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Fatigue, frustration for front-line workers as Florida nears 1 million COVID-19 cases - WJXT News4JAX
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