(WBBM NEWSRADIO) —Dozens of nurses at a Chicago area hospital are sharing their emotional experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in a new coffee table book.
The book, Through Our Eyes: Perceptions from One Hospital’s Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic, cost $40 apiece, and proceeds will go toward research and nursing education.
Christ Hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer and Vice-President of Patient Care, Lynn Hennessy, thought up the idea as a substitute for events that could not be held to celebrate International Year of the Nurse last year.
She had 2,300 journals sent out to Christ Hospital's nursing staff.
"I thought we need to start journaling this because it is once every 100 years that we live through a pandemic, so I thought this will be a time capsule, too, for years to come,” Hennessy said.
The stories still bring tears to her eyes, no matter how many times she reads them.
"What hit me most is the wear and tear it took on the nursing staff and all the staff that took care of those patients,” she said. “Obviously, our patients and their families suffered because they couldn’t be with the patients.”
Forty nurses submitted their emotional stories, which are printed in the 96-page book along with equally emotional pictures of what it was like dealing with the first year of COVID-19.
One of the nurses is Mallorie Rosales. Her essay was written after a night of dealing with COVID-19 patients. It reads in part: "This is gut-wrenching, this is ugly. This is heart-breaking. This is unfair. This is unbearable. This is nothing like we’ve ever experienced before. This isn’t the half of it."
As Hennessy puts it, the stories are easy to read — but not easy to read.
The front and back covers of the book include the faces of the 40 masked nurses who authored the stories.
The books can be ordered online at http://donate.advocategiving.org/supportnurses and can be delivered or picked up at Christ Hospital's Cashier Desk.
They can also be bought at Bookies, 10324 S. Western Ave. in the Beverly neighborhood.