Thanks, Healthcare Workers: A Pulsara Visit to the Front Lines

EDITOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to Colin Moravec for writing today's blog post. You can connect with him on LinkedIn. 

As Lead Implementation Project Manager at Pulsara, I help manage the implementation of our software at hospitals. My background is not clinical. Like the rest of the global population, I’ve been reacting, adjusting, and trying to comprehend the results of precisely what COVID-19 has done to our society, and especially our healthcare system. As the Delta variant surge began mid-summer, I had yet to get an inside personal look at how the COVID-19 pandemic affected our healthcare system.

And then, in early September, I got the eye-opening chance to visit a hospital.

For six days, I got to spend time on the ground with hospital staff during rounds for 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours at night, assisting hospital end-users in getting their Pulsara accounts set up and logged in. The first day, I showed up at 6:30 am to ensure I had enough time to introduce myself to every department going live with Pulsara that week. Every nurse, tech, security, and physician all greeted me with an incredibly warm welcome. I was surprised by their hospitality, even during a pandemic surge—not to mention the fact I was there to help establish a change in their technology.

On day 2, I visited with the ICU staff. This was my first time in an ICU. I started to see and feel the staff's pain, frustration, and exhaustion from the pandemic. It was intense to witness the immense care and attention to detail they exhibited as they cared for each patient. All the while, they kept up their upbeat attitudes. The ICU was nearly 100% full. I began to mentally foreshadow the upcoming decisions that were about to be made. “Should we accept this critically ill COVID patient, or should we hold onto this bed for the potential car crash victim or stroke patient?”  Being there in the space they inhabit every day and seeing these realities with my own eyes weighed on me.

Later that day, I assisted the ER registration staff with their Pulsara logins and showed them around the platform. A patient who looked incredibly ill walked in. I was distracted, busy working on my computer and devices, as I prepared to lead the registration team on how much Pulsara would help them limit phone calls. The nurse whispered in my ear, “You should step back.” I looked up to see a patient coughing at the layer of plexiglass between the likely COVID patient and the registration desk. I quickly gathered my things and retreated to the wall, all while thinking that this was the closest I’ve been to a possible COVID patient. The nurses and registration staff have been experiencing this daily for over a year. 

This experience on the front lines didn't only help open my eyes to what goes on on the front lines of the pandemic. It showed me how incredibly strong, kind, and patient-first all our healthcare workers are, day in and day out. They have been bravely supporting us when we need them the most. For those of us who aren't in the trenches, it can be difficult to understand what they go through on a daily basis. 

To all our front-line healthcare workers: Thank you. I appreciate you, and I hope the next six months the pandemic slows, and you all can find some time away from the plexiglass front desks and overcrowded ICU beds. You all deserve it! 

Pulsara is helping with COVID-19 management by helping mitigate patient surge, streamlining patient transfers, minimizing exposure, and more. Learn more about COVID-19 + Pulsara here.