It is her third city to work on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Arizona presents a new location, but a similar challenge.
Ronnie Rodriguez, a travel nurse, previously worked during the pandemic at hospitals in New York and Florida. He came to Arizona and started working at a hospital in the Valley a few weeks ago.
“We are overwhelmed,” Rodriguez said. “Our [emergency rooms] are maximized; open units that are not normally used. “
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Rodriguez told ABC15 that the scene at Valley Hospital is too familiar.
“It’s as busy as everywhere,” she said. “I don’t think it’s as chaotic as New York, but compared to South Florida, it’s very similar. I feel it’s a little more structured here, so it definitely makes a difference.”
When dealing with some COVID-19 patients who can talk, Rodriguez said some have similar stories dating back to Thanksgiving meetings.
I’m like ‘we met’, and a family member was maybe asymptomatic and had no symptoms, so everyone thought it was okay and then, after the holidays, someone was positive and everyone else in the family had come down with her, “she said.
Rodriguez also said that it is not just about what she sees on the front line, but about what she hears.
“Most hospitals are ‘code blue,'” Rodriguez said. So, if you hear ‘code blue’, it’s probably someone who stopped breathing somewhere. Before COVID-19, you may hear it from time to time, you know once a day. But now it’s eight, ten, twelve times a turn. Is much.”
Rodriguez also said that COVID-19 affects her not only professionally, but also personally, because both parents are in the hospital fighting the virus in Florida. She said her father was still in the ICU.
“Everywhere, whether I’m at work or at home here in Arizona, I still have to worry about COVID-19,” she said. “It’s hard when they’re … members of your own family [another] difficult level. “
However, she is determined to help fight Arizona’s growth.
“Medical care is a call,” Rodriguez said. “That’s what I’m here to do. I have to. I have to help.”