Here’s a guest blog from a friend and colleague who practices Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine and is also a Critical Care physician. I believe that she should remain anonymous for now. However, I was inspired by the emails and texts she has sent me and thought you would be, too. She’s sending me messages off the cuff – they are “raw” and not edited by her. However, I think that is best. She uses a lot of abbreviations and when I thought it was useful, I explained them in brackets. One day at the right time, I will tell you who she is and we can all thank her properly for her courage and commitment. Here are her COVID-19 Diaries – uncensored.
–Caroline
COVID-19 Diaries – Day 14
I went to visit the ICU today, I miss it. The patients that need complex management, their acuity, the nurses who are incredible, the respiratory therapists with their tricks to fit the ventilator to the patient’s physiology – amazing, it’s like art.
Some of my patients are beginning to get through this. One is still on ecmo [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, CF] but still alive, the other is now on 35% oxygen instead of 100%, one died, the other is tenuous. The national average (we think) is that 85% on ventilators for COVID-19 ARDS will die, so the fact that I’m only at 25% (1:4) so far, is amazing.
One of the more seasoned ICU nurses told me today that the toughest day she had was the first day I wasn’t in the unit. The team had gotten used to my style over the 9 days. When I rotated off, and others took over, they had a different style. It was touching to hear her say that. I changed a lot of things about the way we normally operate and made big demands of them. However, there’s something amazing that happens when a good doc teams up with a good nurse — there’s this synergy of thoughtfulness and creativity that comes together for the benefit of a patient. I want to go back to the front line. And it is going to take every available person to get through this.
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
The opinions, comments, and content expressed or implied in my statements are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the position or views of Intellicure or any of the boards on which I serve.
I could not agree more; the duality of one good doctor and one good nurse is the secret sauce! so much can get done when great minds come together; collaboration, communication, compassion and cooperation are key. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences during these times.