Covid nurse’s grim PTSD warning

The lead nurse of one of Australia’s busiest Covid wards is warning that a torrent of PTSD cases from the medical sector is coming, as overworked and emotionally drained staff struggle to hold on.

Grace Carroll, nurse unit manager of Royal Melbourne Hospital’s infectious disease ward is recovering from her second Covid infection.

The 41-year-old first caught the virus in July 2020, before vaccinations started and when surgical masks were deemed sufficient PPE.

“It was an absolute shock at the time,” — Ms Carroll said.

“Working in an infectious diseases ward, no-one had ever caught anything from a patient before.

“In the subsequent days more of my colleagues tested positive. We immediately went to N95 masks after that.”

Her most recently infection last month was most likely caught while catching up with family over Christmas, with her triple vaccinated status helping keep her symptom-free.

Ms Carroll said while her unit was holding their collective breath with the return of school on case numbers, they were encouraged by the impact booster shots were already having.

“The wellness department at work ask me every couple of weeks; what do you need? What we really need is more staff. That takes time,” she said.

“The emotional toll is something we haven’t really had a chance to address yet.

“I think there is going to be a lot of PTSD.

“It’s the sadness of the situation, where someone has lived a full life with a full family but their last moments are surrounded by strangers, holding an iPad.

“Our hearts have broken quite few times with elderly patients coming in. It becomes quite apparent their child is anti-vax, so they haven’t been vaccinated, and they subsequently die. It didn’t need to happen that way.

“It’s real. It’s happening. We’re exhausted. We don’t want to do it anymore.”