This past week has been a different kind of chaos. We have been starting in different make-shift ICU's and been transferring all of our patients up to 9B (Covid-ICU) to consolidate all the covid patients to one main ICU. This is great news because it means there are much less cases that require an ICU bed, but it has made 9B appear like a war zone again. We are doubled up in most rooms. The big difference from today compared to a month ago when I arrived is the amount of nurses to patients. Most nurses just have 2 patients and some even have one. It also seems like the severity or acuity of each patient is way less than a month ago.
We discharged a 52 year old yesterday that from all accounts is going to make a full recovery. I really didn't think I was going to see one of my patients leave my unit as stable and with as good of an outcome as he did. I watched his entire process from admit to discharge. When he first arrived to our unit, he required a lot of oxygen to maintain o2 sats around 93-94%. We were constantly checking on him and evaluating the need to intubate. He was the only non-intubated patient on the floor for several days. After two weeks of medical treatment and evaluation he started to feel better and he only needed 4L of a nasal cannula to help keep his o2 sats around 98%.He was a super nice and polite guy. A couple of days ago I went in his room around 1030 at night to give him his ambien and he said he didn't want it yet because he was enjoying a tv show, he then paused and said "never mind I will take it, because I don't want you to have to come back and give it to me later". I laughed and told him I wanted to give it to him when he was ready, but I was so impressed by his simple thoughtfulness. I am glad someone like him beat the disease and that I was able to witness it.
Front view of Lincoln Medical Center. Bronx, New York
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