Global Pandemic, Local Hero
MARCH 30, 2021
AHN Jefferson Hospital nurse Tom Vislay has spent the last year caring for Covid-19 patients.
Photograph courtesy of AHN Jefferson Hospital
When the late actor Christopher Reeve described a hero as “an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles,” he could have been referring to Tom Vislay, a nurse in Jefferson Hospital’s High Level Telemetry Unit, even if Vislay wouldn’t call himself one.
Vislay’s department, also known as the step-down unit, was designated as Jefferson’s “Covid floor” when the disease first hit the area early last year. He has been in the thick of the fight against the pandemic since that time, and this prolonged battle has taken both an emotional and physical toll on him.
Originally from Emporium in Cameron County, Vislay, 49, now lives in Baldwin, just a few minutes’ drive from the hospital. He came to nursing late in life, but knew he wanted to find a career that afforded him the opportunity to be in service of others. He earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from California University of Pennsylvania in 2018. Since then, Vislay has worked on the staff at Jefferson, but the pandemic has stretched his unit to almost the breaking point, where his days are far more chaotic and stressful now than ever before.
Because of the number of Covid cases, the hospital has expanded the step-down unit from 28 to 50 beds. Originally, the entire unit was located on the hospital’s fifth floor, but now it has expanded to include ten additional beds on the third floor, exacerbating department logistics.
While some people only need to worry about donning a mask running into the store for bread and milk, Vislay has to put on and take off his PPE hundreds of times each day during his 12-hour shifts. He is constantly changing his gown, masks, gloves and face shields as well as repeatedly washing his hands and disinfecting his work areas. He said making sure he is properly protected from the virus is not only stressful but also exhausting. Wearing PPE is also uncomfortable and hot, causing many health care professionals to develop skin irritations from the tight-fitting protective gear.
Vislay said he and his coworkers have to remember to stay hydrated during their shifts. The hospital is quite hot and the perspiration caused by their PPE can lead to severe dehydration, sapping their strength and depleting their already meager reserves of energy. Because of his high level of exposure to the coronavirus, Vislay has chosen to keep away from his friends. “I have no way to know if I am carrying the virus,” he said. “Just like my patients who are isolated in their hospital rooms, I keep myself isolated at home.”
Even though fatigue and stress can sometimes get the better of staff, he has nothing but praise for his coworkers. “We do what we can to help one another by limiting the number of times we have to enter a patient’s room,” he said. “We lose patience with one another, but for the most part we try to lift one another up.”
While some healthcare professionals may become desensitized to suffering and death — developing a shell that protects them from feeling the pain of their patients — Vislay still feels each loss deeply. After a year of losing patient after patient, his voice quivered when he recalled patients who have died, especially one particularly tough day at work.
An elderly married couple were both admitted to the hospital and were in rooms on separate floors. The husband took a turn for the worse and only had hours to live. Vislay helped the man hold his iPad, so he could talk to his wife one last time. “After being married for 50 years that’s the way he had to say goodbye to her,” Vislay said. “I had to repeat what they were saying to one another because they had a hard time hearing ... I had to tell her his last words, ‘I’ll see you in heaven.’”
The loneliness of the patients affects Vislay the most. “It rips your heart out to see people so isolated, to see them die alone day after day,” he said. The staff tries to comfort their patients, but their workload and the environment make this difficult. Vislay said the hospital wasn’t prepared to care for so many patients in isolation and only a few rooms were equipped with negative ventilation systems, which prevent the spread of airborne viruses like Covid-19. To remedy this, the hospital installed temporary ventilation systems, which are effective but extremely noisy. “The patients have trouble even hearing us or even the TV,” Vislay said. “With our masks on they can’t even read our lips.” This adds to patients’ stress and isolation.
He said it’s hard to describe how emotionally difficult the pandemic has been for him as a nurse. “You can talk about a case here and there, but this is a day-in-and-day-out thing,” he said. “You get to know these people really well and then they die on you, this has happened over and over and over. “It really plays on your emotions; it’s really hard on you. It is like losing a family member every week … or every day.”
Vislay said he was frustrated with people who have failed to take the coronavirus seriously, after all he has seen and been through. “Don’t take life for granted … don’t take this pandemic for granted,” he said. He stressed the importance of strictly adhering to Covid hygiene protocols. Due to the pandemic, he hasn’t seen his family in north-central Pennsylvania in over a year. Vislay said wearing a mask and careful handwashing are what has kept him from contracting the disease despite being exposed to it on a daily basis.
On a recent trip to the grocery store, Vislay encountered a fellow shopper who wasn’t wearing a mask. “How do you know the person standing next to you doesn’t have the coronavirus and could infect you?” he asked the maskless man. When the guy blew him off, Vislay continued, “I work in healthcare and I’ve been around 50 Covid patients this week and you never even knew it!” Vislay said he hoped the message got through to the shopper. “I wanted to give him a little food for thought,” Vislay said. “I mean how hard is it? Is it really that much of a sacrifice to cook at home and not go out to eat? We can all make a difference.”
Vislay’s advice to anyone new to the healthcare field is to be smart and take time to recharge while continuing to be genuine with patients.“Your heart has to be in it,” he said. “If your heart’s in it, you’ll go through anything to take care of your patients — that’s the bottom line.”
How does Vislay feel about being called a hero? “I don’t consider myself a hero,” he said. “I am doing what needs to be done. If we don’t take care of these people who will?”