"The volume of death is
indescribable," says Ms.
Siddel.
She's been cheered by
first responders when she's
arrived for work and
applauded by appreciative
community members during
the city's nightly salute to
healthcare workers.
"This is the hardest and
most rewarding thing I've
ever done," says Ms. Siddel.
Out of their element
New York-Presbyterian
Columbia in Manhattan sits
in a hot zone of the coron-
avirus outbreak. Margaret
Cory, BSN, RN, CNOR, a
nurse who usually works in the hospital's pediatric operating rooms,
arrives each morning with a new assignment. "Every member of our
perioperative team has been redeployed to care for coronavirus
patients," she says. "We've essentially converted the entire hospital into
an ICU."
Each of the hospital's ORs are filled with four critically ill patients.
Each patient is ventilated. They have fluctuating vital signs and blood
glucose levels, and regularly experience heart arrhythmias. The insta-
bility of the patients is nerve-wracking for nurses who are used to car-
ing for patients in a controlled environment with predictive outcomes.
M A Y 2 0 2 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 9
• HELP WANTED Margaret Cory, BSN, RN, CNOR, cares for patients at
New York-Presbyterian Columbia in ORs that have been turned into
makeshift intensive care rooms.
