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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.

In my work as a Palliative Care nurse coronavirus is still looming and causing upheaval. Just last week I cared for an elderly 91 year old gentleman who had a massive stroke and also had coronavirus. He had tested positive in the fall, and had even had his first vaccine. False positive? How can we know? There is still so much fear around this disease and so much we do not know. I had to make a decision whether or not to allow his own unvaccinated daughter into the room prior to removing him from the ventilator, which he had outlined in his advanced directives. I finally left the decision up to her, going against some of the hospital's policies. I hope I made the right decision and that she did not get sick. He died a couple hours later, peacefully, with his wife and daughter with him. This consumed my day, yet they were not my only patients. In a hospital setting right now, the stakes are so high and we still face unknowns every single day and I feel like everyone on the outside is pushing for the world to open back up as spring is coming and everyone is sick of staying home and inside. I am too, but my anxiety about what happens next is very stirring and 'getting back to normal' seems like an obsolete statement. The way I see it is that we must 'go forward with a new hope for wellness' instead.