WASHINGTON — For many frontline health care workers in the DMV, COVID-19 has made the last year a rollercoaster ride full of twists, drops and peaks. If you ask some providers at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, they won't be unbuckling their seat belt until there's herd immunity.
While there have been ebbs and flows, MedStar Washington Nursing Director Rachel Watkins said the COVID-19 floor with 32 beds at Unit 4C has recently gotten busier again.
"Unit 4C is still full of COVID patients," Watkins said. "We're still busy and don't feel a break right now."
The pandemic has gone on longer than Watkins expected, which is why she's adamant people get their vaccine once it's available to them.
Nurses like her have learned how to cope with the emotions and stress of treating hundreds of ill patients throughout the past year. Anxiety and worry reached an all-time high at the beginning. Watkins learned to adapt to swift changes and how to stay strong as team members relied on her, but she also had to accept how it's okay to ask for help.
"I was just as scared as my staff on certain situations," she said. "It's very challenging but I continue to see the resiliency of my team that despite the heartbreak, we still bounce back."
Watkins helped lead countless "clap lines" when staff cheered on patients who were finally able to leave the hospital. There were so many throughout the medical center it was hard to keep count.
Meanwhile, the critical care team at MedStar Washington has taken care of more than 800 severely ill COVID-19 patients over the past year. It's hard to say exactly how many but Dr. Alexandra Pratt said she's seen hundreds die. Being next to dying patients knowing their family was unable to be by their side was the toughest part.
"What really hurt was just how random and senseless it really felt in many cases," Dr. Pratt said. "When families couldn't be at the bedside when love ones were dying was incredibly hard for the staff and patients and families, of course."
The first case of COVID-19 in the District came on March 7.
The scene now in the critical care floor is a lot more stabilized compared to the start and height of the pandemic when there were still many unknowns on what the disease was and can do to people. Pratt said the COVID-19 numbers have gone down, but they're busier more than ever as patients who were forced to delay their elective surgeries are returning.
The critical care unit had an advisory group made up of different experts to scour new literature and update protocols constantly. Staff had a system in place that would allow them to convert hospital rooms into intensive care units by using remote monitoring and providers that rounded patients to prevent capacity issues and safely care patients on the floor.
The hospital was soon able to provide a telemedicine platform to connect families to patients.
"I think we've learned about how to be flexible and innovative in real-time and I think we'll carry those lessons with us," Pratt said.
Pratt said not much has changed with the demographic of patients who were critically ill. Many of have them been from the Hispanic or African American communities, with members disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
Nowadays, while it's mainly the same people, Pratt noticed people coming in with other illnesses who also happen to have COVID-19.
She shared the same sentiment as most medical professionals on how shocked they were that states such as Texas and Mississippi have removed their mask mandate.
"We're not out of the woods yet," Pratt added. "The pandemic is still raging."