'Like a war zone' Michigan ICU nurse talks about 13-hour shift with COVID-19 patients
Screen capture of Michigan nurse Melissa Steiner.
FOX 2 - A powerful new video clip of a Michigan Intensive Care Unit nurse aired during the FOX and iHeart Living Room Concert for America Sunday.
ICU nurse Melissa Steiner recorded a Snapchat video following a 13-hour shift at work, breaking down over the "war zone" she witnessed.
Steiner talked about being isolated from her team members during the shift while working with two critical patients on ventilators the whole time as her new normal.
"So today was the first day that I worked since our unit was designated the second COVID ICU in my hospital and I don't know what the (expletive) just happened. For the past 13 hours, honestly guys, I felt like I was working in a war zone," she says wearily.
She did not say which hospital she worked but spoke of dwindling resources, adding that the doctors are just as overwhelmed as the nurses are because they are all dealing with so much.
It is the second video made by a metro Detroit area nurse describing the conditions state healthcare workers are under. A Southfield emergency room nurse last week posted an Instagram video saying “You hear the rumors; you saw the trends but until you see it firsthand you have no idea what it’s like. And it’s truly frightening.”
Steiner also issued a dire warning for all of us.
"So for f- sake, people, please take this seriously. This is so bad."
For her entire video statement, watch the video below, courtesy of Storyful. The video clip contains explicit language.
Nurse Melissa Steiner:
"So today was the first day that I worked since our unit was designated the second COVID ICU in my hospital and I don't know what the f--- just happened. For the past 13 hours, honestly guys, I felt like I was working in a war zone. (I) was completely isolated from my team members. Limited resources, limited supplies. Limited responses from physicians because they are just as overwhelmed as we are dealing with a ton of other stuff.
"So basically I just spent the last 13 hours treating two critically ill COVID patients on the vent basically by myself. And this is my new normal for the next however many months it takes for this virus to die down. Like, I am already breaking.
"So for f--- sake, people, please take this seriously. This is so bad."