美国国家公共电台 NPR--Nurses have had an up-close view of the pandemic deaths in the U.S.

Nurses have had an up-close view of the pandemic deaths in the U.S.

Transcript¹

The one million U.S. deaths from COVID-19 happened out of sight for most Americans. It was often nurses who were caring for these patients and bearing witness to their deaths.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

More than a million people have died from COVID-19 in this country. So many of these deaths happened in hospital rooms witnessed by those at the bedside, often nurses. They have seen this tremendous loss up close. NPR's Will Stone brings us some of their reflections.

WILL STONE, BYLINE²: There's not a whole lot that can surprise Mary Mills. She's been a nurse working in the ICU for 40 years. It's a career that started with the HIV/AIDS pandemic and is now coming to a close with the coronavirus.

MARY MILLS: This was sort of beyond anything I would have expected. I was proud to be there to do my part. But I'm tired. I think I'll let the younger kids do the next pandemic.

STONE: Mills has been here in Seattle caring for COVID-19 patients since the very beginning of the pandemic. That lightness, even a touch of humor in her voice, it's her way of lifting some of the darkness and exhaustion³ of being around so much loss the past few years.

MILLS: It just kept going, and so many people died, and, in my case, you know, tons and tons of people way younger than me.

STONE: Mills says it was sometimes hard to even remember what it was like caring for people who did get better. Those early days of the pandemic were filled with fear and sorrow. But Mills says over time, that turned to disbelief.

MILLS: Death isn't the hard part as much as unnecessary death.

STONE: People who refused to take the virus seriously, who wouldn't get vaccinated⁴ even after hundreds of thousands had already died - Mills says nothing prepared her for some of those patients.

MILLS: We lost young, pregnant mothers. We lost babies. And that's really hard. That's supposed to be a joyful⁵, healthy time of life. And it's tragic⁶.

STONE: This is what most Americans have never seen up close during the pandemic. In many ways, it's nurses like Mills who've shouldered the collective trauma⁷ of witnessing all this death. Beth Wathen says it has felt disorienting at times, the disconnect between these daily tragedies and how things look when their shift ends.

BETH WATHEN: And to walk out the door of the hospital and feel like the world has moved on, it's like living in two different worlds at times for many nurses.

STONE: Wathen is president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

WATHEN: If only they could see what we see in the ICU. For the patients who have died of this disease, it is a terrifying, lonely, tragic death.

STONE: Burnout, moral distress⁸ - Wathen says it's hard to find the right words to sum up how nurses are feeling, nurses like Jessica Scarlett, who spent the pandemic taking crisis assignments at hospitals dealing⁹ with a surge of COVID patients.

JESSICA SCARLETT: The personal factor, you know, the human factor, seeing so many people die, you know, they're helpless.

STONE: Scarlett's been a nurse for many years, but she says all this death has changed her. She doesn't sleep well anymore. Her bubbly disposition¹⁰ isn't quite there. And the memories of the patients she's lost keep returning. She says one of the worst things is that it can feel like much of the world, even her own family, just doesn't understand.

SCARLETT: I think there's no face to COVID. They hear a number, but they can't see it. And I think people forget. They forget.

STONE: Reaching a million deaths is surreal to Dr. Jennifer Adamski. She's a nurse practitioner¹¹ who's on the flight team at the Cleveland Clinic, where she's cared for some of the very sickest COVID patients.

JENNIFER ADAMSKI: Every patient that has died on my watch, it comes home with me. You remember it. We wouldn't be good providers or nurses if we didn't allow ourselves to feel that.

STONE: As painful as it is, Adamski says that is part of the job. Will Stone, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

4 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

5 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

6 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

7 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

8 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

11 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。