SARASOTA (WSNN) – A Suncoast nurse returns home from what she characterizes as a war zone. Charlotte Jones, RN, worked in New York during the current Coronavirus crisis.
“In the hospital I was at, if you were a personnel and you were positive with COVID and asymptomatic, guess what, you went to work,” Jones said.
Sarasota Registered Nurse, Charlotte Jones, applied to work in New York, after Florida denied her. She hadn’t been on the field since 2008, but the company, Krucial Staffing, accepted her.
“It was basically cattle call,” Jones said. “If you called and you got in, you got to go. And be ready to go within 48 hours.”
Jones says she went into combat on April 5. Nurses were expected to work seven, 12 hours shifts a week. Jones worked as an obstetrics nurse in the Bronx, caring for pregnant women and newborns.
“Probably one of the most horrifying things I’ve seen as a labor nurse,” Jones said.
Jones ended her contract early and left April 18th. She predicts healthcare workers will experience compassion fatigue, which is like burnout. Maybe even PTSD.
“You’re being asked to do things that you wouldn’t do in normal circumstances, and these are not normal circumstances,” Jones said. “Basically, it’s like mobile army surgical hospitals inside of hospitals right now, because you do not have what you need and you’re working with what you got.”
She returns to the Suncoast with a message for all of us. She says the people not wearing masks is a serious.
“When you go out to Publix and you’re not wearing a mask, ‘how dare you? If you’re wearing a mask and you’re not covering the bridge of your nose, by pinching it, you’re not doing anyone any favors,” Jones said.
She says while it’s important to open the nation, things will never be normal again.
“This is not an illness anybody wants,” Jones said. “You can tell me it’s a hoax, you can tell me anything you want, but people are dying. Learn from what’s going on.”
Jones says she wants to emphasize, while the nation will be opening up again, it’s still important to follow CDC guidelines: wear masks, social distance, and stay home if you can.
