While the amazing work of intensive care and respiratory nurses during the coronavirus pandemic has been well-documented, one 国产主播 graduate鈥檚 story reminds us that the COVID-19 frontlines extend to all areas of the hospital.

鈥淲hen I hear another healthcare provider tell me how relieved I must feel during this pandemic because I work in a low-risk environment in labor and delivery, my immediate answer is, 鈥業t can seem that way, but you should see the triage risk,鈥� WCU alumnus Brittney Ayers said.

Ayers, who earned her bachelor鈥檚 of science in nursing and her master鈥檚 of nursing-family nurse practitioner from WCU, currently is pursuing her doctor of nursing practice while working as a labor and delivery nurse in Sylmar, California.

Just like in the emergency room, Ayers said there can be a lot of unknowns when the doors of the labor and delivery room bang open and a patient is rushed in. While maternity patients admitted to the hospital are tested for COVID-19 and the results are back within a few hours, other women can arrive in labor and start giving birth seconds after entering the unit 鈥� without any opportunity for coronavirus screenings.

鈥淭riage for an active labor patient transitioning rapidly through the second stage of labor is often eventful even without a pandemic going on,鈥� Ayers said. 鈥淒uring the pushing phase, the woman is often forcefully blowing air out from deep down in her lungs creating an aerosolizing event. Between the two situations, it turns the area I work into another frontline in this war on COVID-19.鈥�

Additionally, family members will sometimes say anything to be present at the birth, Ayers said.

鈥淭his has happened for years but now, more than ever, it is terrifying that some support persons will not be honest and hide the truth of their symptoms so that they don鈥檛 miss the event,鈥� she said.

Although Ayers has complete confidence in the hospital-issued N95 masks and personal protective equipment, she said there鈥檚 no way to practice social distancing in the close confines of the delivery room. Hospital staff often stand inches away from the聽patient鈥檚 face as they forcibly exhale over and over or scream in pain for epidural placement.

鈥淥nly an L&D nurse has stories of the aerosolizing of other types of fluid that are forgotten,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is a definite splash zone in labor, and body fluids that no other department can describe!鈥�

As a nurse and a mother herself, Ayers said she accepts that the safety of health care workers sometimes comes second when it鈥檚 life or death for the mother or her newborn. The decision to intubate during an emergency C-section, where the baby or mother could die in less than 10 minutes isn鈥檛 a hard one to make at all, she said 鈥� even if you don鈥檛 know the mother鈥檚 coronavirus status.

鈥淣ow take all that stress of caring for one patient鈥檚 safety and health and add the most dependent patient ever 鈥� one so small, who can only communicate with you by the sound of their heartbeat 鈥� but your job is to know how to treat one within the other,鈥� she said.

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