4th Surge Leading To 'Burnout’ For Doctors, Nurses

LIBERTYVILLE, IL — A "burnt out" staff of doctors and nurses at Advocate Health hospitals are now handling a fourth surge of the coronavirus.

Dr. Dipul Patadia, chief medical officer for Advocate Condell Medical Center, says there's been a 12-fold increase in patients admitted with COVID-19 since the beginning of July across all Advocate Aurora Health hospitals.

This time around, nurses and doctors are seeing more children becoming sick and are treating mainly unvaccinated patients, as well as many more in their 20s, 30s and 40s. The daily work can be very "polarizing" for many in the medical field who believe the virus is preventable, Patadia said.

This leads to a "negative psyche" and low morale for some, and Patadia has seen colleagues leave the medical field or retire because of the pandemic.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Advocate has taken steps to address morale issues.

Hospitals have added quiet spaces meant to help doctors and nurses recharge, and Advocate has launched the Team Member Crisis Fund, which assists team members who are financially impacted by COVID-19. In addition, Advocate's mission and spiritual team and chaplains are also rounding regularly "to offer support," Patadia said.

Advocate has also offered retention bonuses and been talking "realistically" about the stresses.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our team. They have risen to every challenge and demonstrated courage, compassion and resilience over the last 18 months," Patadia said. "This surge has certainly placed a huge demand and burden on them, which is why we are prioritizing team members' well-being and resiliency, and we are committed to supporting our team members with resources to help manage their stress and anxiety."

The good news is Advocate medical workers have more knowledge, training and processes in place now compared to the beginning of the pandemic, when nurses and doctors were learning as they went amid an overwhelming spike in patients.

"We were extremely fearful (at the beginning of the pandemic)," said Patadia. "We needed to build processes on how to care for these patients."

At that time, there would be teams who'd try and figure out when to put visitor restrictions in place, for example, or when to stop offering elective surgeries as hospital beds filled up. Now, most of those restrictions are well-known among staff.

Advocate did enact new protocol meant to keep staff safe amid this current rise in cases. Hospitals have switched from only testing patients who show COVID-19 symptoms before they enter the hospital or undergo an elective procedure to testing everyone before surgery, Patadia said.

“Patients with positive COVID-19 tests and with an emergent or urgent need will proceed with their surgery or procedure while our care team adheres to strict precautions and wears appropriate PPE," Patadia said. "Patients who are symptomatic should defer elective procedures until they are symptom-free for 10 days beyond illness and will be rescheduled.”

Currently, Advocate is seeing an increase of one or two COVID-19 patients per day compared to the beginning of the pandemic, when 20 to 40 new patients were being hospitalized on the busiest days, Patadia said. And the majority of people who can receive the vaccine in the area, especially the most vulnerable population, has.

That's the good news. The bad news is that available hospital beds at Condell are beginning to fill up with other patients, many who are dealing with health concerns put off during the pandemic.

The level of community transmission is among the highest in Lake and McHenry counties compared to other Chicago area communities, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.

Statewide, hospital admissions have been on the rise since late July, and intensive care bed availability has been declining, according to public health data. Currently, more than 70 percent of people over the age of 16 years have received their COVID-19 vaccination.

The positivity rate in Lake and McHenry counties has begun to decrease in the past 10 days. In McHenry County, COVID-19 positivity hit 8.9 percent mid-month, but was 6.5 percent as of Friday. In Lake County, the positivity rate is even lower at 4.7 percent.