WASHINGTON — For months, nurses have been on the front lines fighting the coronavirus. Persephoney White is one of those nurses.
White is an ICU travel nurse currently working at several D.C. area hospitals.
"It's been intense. It's been really intense," White said.
White is filling the staffing needs for several local hospitals. She said it's nothing like she has ever experienced during her time as a health care worker.
"The death toll is scary. You walk in and see a death every day," she said.
For that reason, nurses have also been fighting for the proper personal protective equipment.
"It definitely feels like we're at war. We just want to make sure we're protected as much as possible, because if we get sick as the health care workers, who is going to take care of the patients?" White said.
The last few months White said she has had to be a nurse, but also a family member for so many of the patients who aren't able to have loved ones present because of visitation restrictions.
"It puts your oath to the test. It makes you think, 'Are you in it, or are you just here to say that you're a nurse?' Or are you really here to say, 'I truly did my part and can sleep with it at night?'" White said.
Even with everything going on right now, White said there isn't any other profession she would want to be working in.