Working in the intensive care unit at a hospital comes with a tremendous responsibility. If you talk to ICU nurses now, they will tell you that responsibility has grown exponentially in recent weeks due to the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s like nothing I could’ve ever imagined,” said Sophia Sopczneski, a nurse at The Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain, part of the Hartford HealthCare system.

While making sure she’s wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep herself and those around her safe, Sopczneski’s 12-hour shifts now consist of going from room to room, caring for patients who have the virus. She describes a typical workday as “exhausting.” But the nurses are not losing hope, believing the community has the power to turn back the coronavirus.  Across Hartford HealthCare, more than 300 COVID-19 patients have gone home.

Related story: Hartford HealthCare’s 2020 Nightingale Awards for Nursing Excellence. Click here.

Still, many patients are fighting to stay alive. They’re intubated and sedated — hooked up to a ventilator. Sopczneski has experienced the unthinkable, where a patient is holding steady and then suddenly their body gives out and they pass away.

“It’s devastating,” said Sopczneski, shown above in a 2017 photo. “You know that’s someone’s loved one.”

In the ICU units, everyone is touched by the sense of community. Nowhere is this more evident than when a nurse holds someone’s hand during their final moments on earth.

At hospitals across Connecticut and the country, medical staff has stepped up to become family to those who are alone. Visitor restrictions are in place which means medical staff must facilitate final goodbyes as part of their job.

“They’ve been a husband, a wife for 60 years and we’re asking them to say goodbye with an iPad,” Sopczneski says while fighting back tears. “It can be gut-wrenching.”

But through it all, there is a return to the theme of hope. ICU nurses are also on the front line of the most incredible moments —when patients survive.

“I had a patient a couple weeks ago. We were finally able to take his breathing tube out and he woke up. The first thing he said was I miss my wife so much,” said Sopczneski, again fighting tears. “He called her and she was so excited she could talk to him.”

Those are the moments many people are choosing to focus on — the survivors, the helpers and the feeling of community.

“Our nurses have had to become leaders who feel confident in their skills and sharing things with other nurses. We’re in it, it’s not going anywhere. And we will do this.”

Not feeling well? Call your healthcare provider for guidance and try to avoid going directly to an emergency department or urgent care center, as this could increase the chances of the disease spreading.

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