ICU Nurse: Many Patients Still Don’t Believe COVID Is Real, Blame Hospital For Illness: ‘They’re Calling You A Murderer’

AURORA, Colo. (CBS Denver) – Kathleen Combs has been successful immoderate of the astir uncomfortable places of our times. She has present spent 19 months moving successful UCHealth Hospital’s COVID ICU.

“My satellite is inactive afloat COVID,” Combs told KCNC-TV successful Denver. She has worked successful ICUs for 18 years and been a caregiver for much than 20. When the infirmary asked for volunteers successful March of 2020, erstwhile the knowing of COVID-19 was a fraction of what’s present known, with cognition of pulmonary issues, she figured she was close for it.

“I’m 1 of many. I’m not the lone one,” she said.

All implicit the state determination are shortages of nurses. People doing immoderate of the hardest enactment caring for the sick successful the pandemic. They’ve been done shortages of PPE, and staff. Through anticipation erstwhile vaccines came retired and present disappointment erstwhile radical garbage to get them.

“A batch of sadness, a batch of sick people, a batch of death. And unnecessarily truthful astatine this point,” she said. “It’s emotionally draining to maine now.”

Combs says a large percent of captious COVID patients present are not simply successful disbelief, arsenic she’s witnessed with crab patients implicit the years, but disbelievers. “It’s hard though, erstwhile you cognize that you’re doing bully for the patients, but they’re yelling astatine you,” she said. “They’re telling you it’s not real. They’re telling you that you’re a murderer.”

Some judge the infirmary is making them sick. “’I can’t breathe,’” she hears them say. “Exactly. That’s due to the fact that you person COVID. ‘Well nary I don’t person COVID, that’s not real.’ I’ve had these conversations with people.”

Then there’s blasted — connected the hospitals, doctors and nurses. “That it’s created by idiosyncratic other oregon created by the media oregon the authorities oregon what not. I’ve ne'er experienced that… There are those who conscionable perfectly volition contradict it each the mode until the infinitesimal erstwhile they’re nary longer alive.”

In summation to the radical with the infection, the families are besides angry, adjacent arsenic she holds pads adjacent to their loved ones truthful they tin communicate. “We get threats. We person radical outcry astatine us, connected the phone. They’re not nice.”

Their claims spell to extremes, including allegations of harm. “That we are the origin of them getting sicker and dying. That we are causing this,” says Combs.

A twelvemonth ago, we spoke with Combs earlier successful the pandemic. People were inactive getting utilized to however things were different, adjacent successful ICUs.

“I locomotion successful a country with this brainsick getup on, and they look astatine maine similar I’m, I’m from different satellite and I don’t blasted them,” Combs said successful November of 2020. Then immoderate were resistant of masks. “It doesn’t care. It doesn’t attraction who you are, it doesn’t attraction what you believe, it conscionable takes implicit the body,” Combs adds.

Are immoderate regretful of not getting vaccinated? Not galore now. There were much successful the springtime. The demographics person besides changed. The unvaccinated going into hospitals are getting younger. There are less minorities than past year, the beforehand enactment workers who much often unrecorded successful congregate lodging and were deed hard successful the aboriginal days of the pandemic.

Nurses person agelong dealt with the results of people’s mediocre choices; immoderate cancers, immoderate liver disease. Disbelief she has seen with crab is astir getting sick, not the beingness of the disease.

“We don’t ask. Hey were you vaccinated? Why weren’t you vaccinated? I don’t care. Whatever crushed that you chose not to get vaccinated. I’m truly atrocious that you chose that, but it doesn’t impact however I’m going to dainty you arsenic a diligent and arsenic a quality being.”

Misinformation present ignites her though. “People who are conscionable not capable to recognize and conscionable stock accusation due to the fact that they work it connected the net to the highest level of officials who should cognize better. Shame connected those officials who should cognize better.”

Vaccination works. The radical successful the ICU if they are vaccinated are not the astir earnestly ill.

All of it takes a toll.

“I shed tears astatine the hospital. I’ve shed tears astatine a patient’s bedside arsenic they instrumentality their past breaths… I’ve shed tears for them arsenic I’ve enactment them successful the bags and accidental I’m atrocious this happened to you.”

Combs says she remains acrophobic astir the aboriginal if we’re going to get into a wont of trusting vaccines. She fears we could spot a unsmooth wintertime up if radical are not funny successful the flu shot.