The simulation in red and blue against a black background provided information that helped the medical team decide whether the man needed more liquids or had too much fluid in his lungs.Īnother nurse stood next to the man’s head, using a suctioning device to clear mucus buildup from the tracheostomy tube connected to the ventilator. One nurse attended to a FloTrac machine, a device with a screen displaying readings of the man’s circulatory system. The medical team had initially given the man sedatives, the standard practice with ventilator use, but the sedation did not work effectively enough, said April Novotny, chief nurse executive and vice president of clinical services. Four of the medications were intended to keep the man’s blood pressure at a safe level, and others kept him in a medically induced coma, with his body paralyzed so that he wouldn’t fight against the tube from a mechanical ventilator inserted into his windpipe. Related: COVID hospitalizations drop at Lakeland Regional Health, but cases continue to stress systemįrom Lakeland Regional Health: The vaccine is our best chance at beating COVID-19Īn IV stand set near the bed held nine bags of liquid medications being dispensed by infusion pumps. 'The toll that it's taking': COVID-19 skepticism compounds fatigue for hospital nurses The man in his 50s had only entered Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center a day earlier, but he was one of the most urgently ill patients in the medical intensive care unit, a ward filled with patients battling COVID-19. LAKELAND – Four nurses, covered in yellow, plastic gowns and wearing protective masks and face shields, crowded into the room, taking positions around a man who reclined unconsciously on a hospital bed. View Gallery: Inside look at Lakeland Regional MICU covid unit

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