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We Talked to an ICU Nurse Working in an Overwhelmed COVID-19 Ward

The curve of COVID-19 is beginning to flatten in New York City, with admissions to the ICU, dropping for the first time on Friday. But that doesn’t mean life on the frontlines is getting any easier.

Medical workers are warning that even if the number of new hospitalizations reaches a plateau, hospital resources in the city—and the staff required to keep them running—will continue to be stretched thin.

While much of the media’s focus has been on ER physicians and ventilator stockpiles, intensive care nurses are just as scarce a resource. They’re the specialized caregivers responsible for executing treatment plans for the most critically-ill patients.

VICE News spoke with KP Mendoza, an ICU nurse from Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan who’s spent the last few weeks working in an overwhelmed COVID-19 ward.

“I think it’s too soon to have hope,” Mendoza told VICE. “I say that because even if you reach that peak, there will be a plateau. My patient ratio, my patient safety, my stress as an ICU nurse won’t diminish. It’s still gonna be bad in hospitals for a long time.”

In an interview in Central Park, Mendoza also talked about what it’s like to help patients make video calls to their families for what may be their last moment together, and his concerns about the personal protective equipment he’s been given to use while working with COVID patients in the ICU.

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