‘Every day ... we see someone die’
Oklahoma frontline nurses pleading for people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before it’s too late
There is nothing that scares Cacy Wyatt more than the idea of coming down with COVID-19 and having to be put on a ventilator.
“Because ultimately, I know the outcome,” he said.
Wyatt is an intensive-care unit nurse at Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City, where he cares for the sickest of the sick. A wave of predominantly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients has overwhelmed hospitals across the state.
Seeing what he’s seen is why he’s an ardent believer in COVID-19 vaccinations, he said.
“You do not want to be the person who ends up in the ICU, where you are fully aware of what’s going on, and I’m telling you that you are to the point where you have to be put on the ventilator,” he said. “Because we ultimately we know what that means.”
Sometimes, in those moments, patients will tell Wyatt they regret not being vaccinated.
“They mean it,” he said. “You can see the fear in
“I just want (Oklahomans) to know that there are not going to be enough beds, there’s not going to be enough ICU nurses, to take care of you if you do not get the vaccination.” Jill McSparrin, Integris Health ICU nurse
how they’re trembling. You can hear the fear in their voice.”
In this COVID-19 wave, nurses and doctors have said they’re treating younger, sicker patients than in previous surges. They’re also up against staffing shortages, which have only been worsened by the pandemic.
Ralph Cornelius, a nurse who works in a step-down unit at Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City, said it’s exhausting to be confronted over and over with preventable deaths. (A step-down unit is for patients who need more care than patients in a general medical-surgical wards, but less than ICU-level care.)
“There’s a vaccine that is been shown to be highly effective to keep people out of the hospital, and I still have patients that are really sick,” he said. “Just recently I’ve had two patients tell me they’re ready to die, because they can’t handle it.”
Another ICU nurse, Jill McSparrin, joined a recent media call with the Healthier Oklahoma Coalition with a plea for more people to get vaccinated.
“Every day we work, we see someone die,” said McSparrin, an Integris Health nurse. “It does take a toll on you day after day.”
Nurses are exhausted, physically, mentally and emotionally, she said.
“We’re having some PTSD. We’re having depression, anxiety, restlessness,” McSparrin said. “We’re really questioning whether we can do another season of this.”
The impact of the pandemic is personal for her, too: McSparrin lost her own father to COVID-19 in December 2020.
“I want Oklahomans to know, if they saw what we see every day, they would be in line for the vaccination,” she said. “I just want them to know that there are not going to be enough beds, there’s not going to be enough ICU nurses, to take care of you if you do not get the vaccination.”
Wyatt, the Mercy ICU nurse, has two requests of anyone not yet vaccinated who may read this story.
“I want them to take 30 minutes, get on Google, type in ‘CDC COVID-19 vaccine,’” he said. “Just read over it. It doesn’t take long.”
If at that point, they still are unconvinced to get a COVID-19 vaccine, Wyatt wants them to try one other exercise. “I want them to consider what they would be leaving behind if there were to get sick and they were to pass,” he said.
“Would they be leaving behind a newborn child? Would they be leaving behind their spouse?” Wyatt said. “Would they be leaving behind their parents who may depend on them to care for them? I think if you can go through both of those steps, and you make your decision, I think that is a well-advised decision.”
To find a COVID-19 vaccine appointment
Go to vaccines.gov or the state’s vaccine scheduling portal at vaccinate.oklahoma.gov. COVID-19 vaccinations are free and available at a number of locations, including local health departments, pharmacies and grocery stores. Anyone 12 and older is eligible for one.