‘Running on empty’: nurses bracing for Covid surge

Nurses are running on empty and fear burnout as Covid cases surge across the Far North and the state - but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

NURSES are running on empty and fear burnout as Covid cases surge across the state.

Covid has hit the Far North with more than 13,000 cases to date – almost 10,000 in Cairns Regional Council area, with more than 282,000 cases and 72 deaths across Queensland.

And the peak of the outbreak is yet to come.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel, according to Cairns Hospital Emergency Department specialist nurse Renee Murtagh, who is acting nurse unit manager as well as doing frontline work on the ward.

Nurses – many of whom are doing arduous hours and double shifts – are encouraged by the number of people coming forward to get the jab.

In Cairns, 91.1 per cent of people have had two jabs, and authorities are urging people not to delay getting a booster shot.

Acting Nurse Unit Manager of the Cairns Hospital emergency department Renee Murtagh says nurses are encouraged by high Covid vaccination rates across the region. Picture: Brendan Radke

“It has been really difficult and challenging for us as nurses to handle this,” Ms Murtagh said.

“It really does get quite tiring and fatiguing.

“As a manager, and working on the floor, I am very concerned about burnout for myself and my colleagues.”

And it’s the little things that make a big difference for nurses in the emergency ward at Cairns Hospital.

“We have a social club and it provides comfort food – noodles, milo, peanut butter, it seems so trivial, but when you are really craving something after a long shift, it’s great,” Ms Murtagh said.

The team has a social page where they share TV program recommendations to decompress after work, and get together for outings such as a volleyball match or lawn bowls when they can.

Nurses can’t stress strongly enough the need to be fully vaccinated – because they see a stark difference between those who’ve had the jab and those who haven’t.

Ms Murtagh has seen evidence of Queensland chief health officer John Gerrard’s assertion that unvaccinated people are nine times more likely to end up in hospital.

Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service Director of Emergency Medicine Dr Richard Stone and CEO Tina Chinery are urging people to get their booster jab. Picture: Brendan Radke

Nurses at Cairns Hospital have reported severely ill patients who resisted getting the jab say they wish very much that they had.

“They can have significant shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, much lower oxygen saturation that normal, coughing, and a decrease in consciousness and be quite confused as well,” Ms Murtagh said.

“It is discouraging to see some people be reluctant to get vaccinated after all of this effort and research has been done – my message as a nurse working with Covid patients is to please get vaccinated.”

She said as cases began to emerge in the Far North, people were ‘shocked and scared’.

“Now we have a significant proportion of the population vaccinated in Cairns, I think people think that is a protective factor, and are more confident about getting Covid because they are vaccinated,” she said.

Ms Murtagh said the worst challenge was recruitment with nurses from Victoria and NSW prevented from working in Cairns by border closures until recently.

“That was a huge challenge we are just starting overcome now that borders are open,” she said.

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“I’d like to say the most important thing is that the emergency department is for emergencies.

“We are ready, willing and able to look after you, whether you are vaccinated or unvaccinated, but we really do need the community to help us in that, and make sure they are using this department for emergencies only, such as chest pain, shortness of breath or traumas,” Ms Murtagh said.

“As the first port of call, an increase in presentation is expected with this surge.”

But nurses are ready for it.

“I feel less discouraged today, now we have an excellent vaccination rate in the community, and I think there is light at the tunnel.”

Across the state, health care workers were experiencing ‘moral distress’, Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union secretary Beth Mohle said.

“Health workers are running on empty, experiencing physical and emotional exhaustion after almost two years of pandemic response,” Ms Mohle said.

She said while health workers were steadfastly focused on keeping the community safe, the wave of Omicron transmission meant health workers were exposed and isolation or quarantine – increasing stress at a critical time.

“This pressure is causing health workers to experience moral distress,” she said.

“They are deeply concerned about their ability to deliver the highest quality care – in an emergency situation like this, we are forced to triage the most essential work.

“It will be tough and we are all anxious,” Ms Mohle said.

CHHHS chief executive Tina Chinery said staff were coping well.

“There is pressure, but we have a range of things to support our staff,” she said.

“We haven’t reached the peak yet, we know it is going to get harder, but we’re prepared.”

Despite the pressure of a pandemic, Ms Murtagh heartily recommends nursing as a career choice.

“Nursing is very rewarding, every day you have patients that change your life, and the nursing workforce as well are colleagues that become friends, and it is a team that is with you for life,” Ms Murtagh said.

“I really enjoy the fast-paced environment in emergency, you never know what is going to come through the door and you have to be prepared.”

The Cairns local studied at James Cook University.

Originally published as ‘Running on empty’: nurses bracing for Covid surge