TULSA, Okla. — In just a week and a half, Registered Nurse Georgie Stoops says she has seen the worst of COVID-19. She serves Mountainside Hospital in New Jersey.
Stoops said, “This is no joke. Everything they’re saying is true. We do not want this back in our state of Oklahoma. I say, ‘Quarantine. Quarantine.’ Listen to what they’re saying. Wash your hands.”
She left April 5 to answer the call for help. Stoops works for Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa.
Her new patients are of all ages with severe symptoms.
“People with even no comorbidities come in and this virus attacks their entire body. It’s awful. It’s devastating,” she said.
All of Stoops’ patients are ventilated and sedated, “and there are no family members allowed to come visit the patients.”
The nurses are one of their few visitors and are always covered head to toe in protective gear.
“We throw it away. We put our PPE on: mask, gloves, gown, everything before we go into the room,” Stoops said. “When you get into the room, then you’re dirty. You’re considered dirty.”
Because there are not enough nurses, Stoops said the patient to nurse ratio is 3:1.
She said, “One of my friends that I made here, she said, ‘If you weren’t here, we would be doing this 6:1.’”
Stoops returns home Sunday, April 19.
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