A Study in Isolation Illustration

All captions are from participants

An illustrative series based on your moments in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. My hope is that you’ll find some collective compassion, hope, joy and love for each other through these narratives.

—

United in Isolation, 2020 | №30

“Gowning up for the first time entering a covid room was the single most anxiety producing moment of my nursing career. I was going into a small, compact room with a very sick, positive patient. He was incessantly coughing, on high flow oxygen, and I had only a gown, eye shield, and a mask to protect me. I couldn’t help but think, this very well may be how I die. This could be a turning point in my life if I am not safe, careful or smart.

A tech was helping me gather all the supplies I needed so I wouldn’t have to leave and re-enter the patient’s room. We were going to tackle this patient together and give him his pills, change his soiled pads and sheets, catheterize him for a urine sample, draw blood, get an EKG, and administer a breathing treatment. In that moment we knew we would be in his room for at least 30 minutes. She and I looked at each other, held hands and she said to me, let’s be safe and smart and let’s be fast.