Sharnie Wetton, from Baddeley Green, has described ‘exhausting’ 12-hour shifts as she treats up to 12 patients a day on a coronavirus ward at Royal Stoke University Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent.
The 26-year-old has shared the words with StokeonTrentLive after volunteering at the hospital since April and then qualifying in September.
Sharnie said she wrote the poem in the hope more people will take the virus seriously.
She said: “I had seen loads of comments on social media about the virus, so I decided to write a poem which maybe people would listen to or read.
“I’d love if these people could work on my ward for one day and see what we have to deal with and then tell me coronavirus is not real. If they saw what we saw, they’d believe it.
“We need to reduce the risk and all work together to stop the spread of the virus."
This week the hospital treated more than 300 Covid-19 patients - with 37 of them on ventilators.
Hundreds of staff have also been absent from work after getting caught up in the pandemic.
Sharnie said: “You don’t get a chance to sit down. It’s like there are not enough hours in the day to get what we need to do done.
“A lot of staff are off and we’re so busy. It’s even harder because I’m newly qualified and I’m certainly in at the deep end.”
The Keele University graduate typically starts her 12-hour shifts at 7am.
She added: “It’s dark when I leave for work and dark when I come home - I’m not really seeing any daylight.
“When I volunteered in April the ward wasn’t too bad because it was a surgical ward. But now we are a Covid ward and each patient needs different treatments depending on how poorly they are.
“I’m treating six to eight patients a day on average, but it can be up to 12.
"Some days I feel guilty because I don’t feel like there is the time to give the patients the care I want to, like the emotional care side.
"Even though I know I’ve done everything I can for them in a day, I always feel I could do better.
“The patients are not allowed to have visitors so we’re usually the only people they see in a day. It’s so draining and exhausting.”
But Sharnie said she loves her job and the team she works with as everyone is sticking together.
She added: “I chose this ward because of its teamwork and it is a great team. We're all just waiting for things to get better. The tightness of the team really helps.”
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