A newly-qualified nurse has penned an emotional poem detailing what life is really like working shifts at a hospital on the coronavirus frontline.
Sharnie Wetton, from Baddeley Green, has described ‘exhausting’ 12-hour shifts as she treats up to 12 patients a day on a coronavirus ward at Royal Stoke University Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent.
The 26-year-old has shared the words with StokeonTrentLive after volunteering at the hospital since April and then qualifying in September.
Sharnie said she wrote the poem in the hope more people will take the virus seriously.
She said: “I had seen loads of comments on social media about the virus, so I decided to write a poem which maybe people would listen to or read.
“I’d love if these people could work on my ward for one day and see what we have to deal with and then tell me coronavirus is not real. If they saw what we saw, they’d believe it.
“We need to reduce the risk and all work together to stop the spread of the virus."
This week the hospital treated more than 300 Covid-19 patients - with 37 of them on ventilators.
Hundreds of staff have also been absent from work after getting caught up in the pandemic.
Sharnie said: “You don’t get a chance to sit down. It’s like there are not enough hours in the day to get what we need to do done.
“A lot of staff are off and we’re so busy. It’s even harder because I’m newly qualified and I’m certainly in at the deep end.”
The Keele University graduate typically starts her 12-hour shifts at 7am.
She added: “It’s dark when I leave for work and dark when I come home - I’m not really seeing any daylight.
“When I volunteered in April the ward wasn’t too bad because it was a surgical ward. But now we are a Covid ward and each patient needs different treatments depending on how poorly they are.
“I’m treating six to eight patients a day on average, but it can be up to 12.
"Some days I feel guilty because I don’t feel like there is the time to give the patients the care I want to, like the emotional care side.
"Even though I know I’ve done everything I can for them in a day, I always feel I could do better.
“The patients are not allowed to have visitors so we’re usually the only people they see in a day. It’s so draining and exhausting.”
But Sharnie said she loves her job and the team she works with as everyone is sticking together.
She added: “I chose this ward because of its teamwork and it is a great team. We're all just waiting for things to get better. The tightness of the team really helps.”
You can read Sharnie’s poem here:
Three years worth of training,
Could have never prepared us for this,
Becoming newly qualified nurses,
Feels like staring into an abyss.
Covid patients here and there,
Staff sickness at a high,
Some people take it seriously,
While others think it's all a big lie,
The first few weeks of qualifying,
Should be a supported time,
Supernumerary status barely exists,
And more patients we are assigned.
Wards are run on skeleton staff,
While patient safety does decrease,
While others are out rioting,
The NHS just wants peace.
Caring for Covid patients,
Makes you open your eyes,
To how cruel this virus is,
We just want the public to realise.
Some say 'you chose your career',
While others support us in every way,
We just want to care for patients,
Like we do each and everyday.
People refuse to wear masks,
Think this pandemic is planned,
But if you need a bed just remember,
We're the only ones who can hold your hand.
We're calling the porters again,
For Rose Cottage we have one more,
But not long after we have a new admission,
And we're even busier than before.
The media tells the public,
It's the nurses who are spreading it,
The more hate and abuse we get,
Just makes us want to quit.
We just want the public to listen,
And follow all the rules,
This pandemic will never end,
While people are acting like fools.
We all miss family and friends,
And just want this virus to end,
Until people begin to listen,
The NHS we just need to defend.
Becoming newly qualified now is hard.
One day we will look back upon this time,
We will have better days soon,
And we won't be lying when we say 'we're fine'.
