BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A 24-year-old graduate of Auburn University, accepted a nursing position at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) during the pandemic.
Anderson Lopez-Castillo has been a nurse for around eleven months, and the things he has seen while caring for COVID-19 patients has shocked him. Lopez-Castillo says, “I would say that this has been an emotionally draining 11 months.”
He explains the expectations he had coming out of nursing school.
“I think coming in as a new grad, like a baby nurse. I definitely did not expect to [number] one, take a job in an ICU and [number] two, take a job in an ICU that was handling such critically ill patients," Castillo-Lopez said.
Medical staff have been exposed to death and sickness at rates they're never seen before, and for some it's too much.
“I cannot wait for this to be over or for us to make some type of progress," Lopez Castillo said.
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FOX 54 caught up with community members and gave them an update on how nurses and doctors are feeling during this difficult time.
"I know it’s hectic for them," community member Justin Thompson said. "So, I know they need time to rest and if everybody wears their mask and do everything that they’re supposed to do, it would make less stress on them.”
Another woman said she can understand why medical professionals are tired.
“I have sympathy for them because it’s unnecessary for people that can get vaccinated [but] won’t get vaccinated," community member Sherri Sanders said.