(NEW YORK CITY) – Earlier this week, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)-represented Nurses, faith, and community leaders held a vigil outside of New York Presbyterian Hospital to honor colleagues and patients lost to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Nurses gathered to share stories to commemorate the lives of their colleagues who died on the front lines saving lives during the pandemic and draw attention to the continued and urgent need to protect the health and safety of Caregivers and community members. C

Nurse Anna Czarny said: “My friend and Co-Worker Peter Chin died of COVID after getting sick at work.  I will never forget Peter. Before the pandemic.  He and I were the early birds of the unit, coming into work early to sip our coffee, debrief on how our backs still hurt and our body ached from yesterday, listening to classic rock jams.  Peter was right there with us all the time.  He could sense when my workload was overwhelming and would swoop in to help me clean patients, never saying no, rather 'who's next.'  Then the pandemic hit and it was a scary and traumatic time for all of us.  Having a team of nurses that we could depend on, is the only way we survived the worst of the pandemic - for those of us that did survive.  And Peter was essential to that team."

Pediatric Emergency Room Nurse Deidrea Bryan said: "I have long-COVID now and my life will never be the same.  I am not the same.  I don’t breathe the same.  I don’t have the same exercise tolerance and I experience brain fog.  Since the pandemic began, I have been in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) twice because of COVID-19.  My most severe experience was last year when I had severe COVID pneumonia that required bipap to help me breathe.  I’ve experienced trauma and so have my loved ones.  If I’m asleep, they check if I’m breathing.  If I catch a cold, they’re scared that I’ll end up in the ICU again.  It has been a trying experience.  I am speaking out at our vigil because the trauma is still with me and with all the Health Care Workers who had severe COVID." 

Intensive Care Unit Nurse Lori Wagner said: "We lost patients, we lost loved ones, we lost colleagues.  We also lost time that we’ll never get back again.  I have a child who is immuno-compromised and has asthma.  I couldn’t go home for two months because I couldn’t risk bringing COVID home to my child.  I was sleeping in a dorm room alone every night during that time, working sixteen-hour shifts, seven days a week, knowing no matter how much we did, it would never be enough and patients would still die.  To this day, my son will ask me when I leave for work if I’m going to come back home."

NYSNA, which represents more than 42,000 Members across the State, is New York’s largest Union and Professional Association for Registered Nurses.

NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU) - the country's largest and fastest-growing Union and Professional Association of Registered Nurses, with more than 225,000 Members nationwide.

To Read This Labor News Report In Its Entirety, Go To: www.nysna.org/press/2022/media-advisory-today-tuesday-december-13-730-pm-nysna-members-clergy-hold-vigil-newyork#.Y5yzwnbMKiM

Photo Courtesy Of NYSNA Via Facebook.